A thrilling final with 21 successful spot-kicks and a 12-yard field goal

Disallowed goals. Saves and double-saves. Questionable refereeing decisions. Goal-line clearances. The thud of thermoplastic polyurethane out-surface on goalpost. A 22-man penalty shoot-out with 21 successful spot-kicks and a 12-yard Kepa field goal. An appeal for a very public show of support from a crowd half-comprised of Chelsea fans for a European nation under brutal and illegal invasion from a one-time close pal of [Snip! – Fiver lawyer].

In decades to come, when the nuclear winter ends and the handful of survivors who survive whatever horrors are about to be visited upon us by Mad Vlad emerge blinking into the apocalyptic landscape, the dusty, radioactive old record books may show that Sunday’s Sickly Sweet Energy Drink Cup finished scoreless after 120 minutes, but they will offer few clues as to just how thrilling an encounter it was. Having scored three disallowed goals to Liverpool’s one, it could be argued the best team lost and Tommy T could scarcely have sounded more pleased with his beaten Chelsea team.

Related: Liverpool win Carabao Cup final after beating Chelsea in penalty shootout

Having spoken so eloquently before the game about the difficult position in which he and his players find themselves at a club that has acknowledged but not condemned what they described as “the situation” in Ukraine, Tuchel was surprisingly upbeat considering how spectacularly the old goalkeeper-switcheroo tactical masterstroke with which he hoped to win a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out blew up in his face. “I’m proud of the team,” he said. “It was an excellent performance. We could have won it, they could have won it. It was such a tight game. Even the penalties were full of quality.” Well, most of the penalties.

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