Frank Leboeuf makes Kepa Arrizabalaga 'karma' claim after 'horrendous' penalty

Frank Leboeuf says ‘karma’ may have come back to bite Kepa Arrizabalaga after his missed penalty in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.

After a high-octane match at Wembley ended 0-0 in normal time, despite plenty of chances for both sides, the match headed into extra time.

In the final moments of the second period of extra time, Edouard Mendy, who had made a number of top saves during the game, was replaced by Arrizabalaga ahead of the shootout.

Both teams scored all of their penalties up until the 22nd spot-kick, which Arrizabalaga skied over to hand Liverpool the trophy.

The Spaniard famously refused to be substituted in extra time of the 2019 League Cup final before Manchester City went on to beat the Blues on penalties.

‘I don’t want to be harsh on Kepa but maybe it’s karma stuff,’ former Blues defender Leboeuf told ESPN FC.

‘Remember that he didn’t want to be substituted some years ago on a penalty shootout and Chelsea lost.

‘It’s maybe what somebody up there decided to punish him about.

‘I think it’s a little bit unfair to Edouard Mendy who made his national team win in AFCON, stopping some penalties in the shootout.

‘Nothing is fair, nothing is unfair, it’s just a decision made by the technical staff and players just have to accept it.’

Leboeuf doesn’t blame Blues boss Thomas Tuchel or his staff for the decision to put on Arrizabalaga, but described the goalkeeper’s spot-kick as ‘horrendous’ and like a conversion in rugby.

‘We cannot really criticise the technical staff for taking that decision and getting all the responsibilities of it.

‘It wasn’t the turning point. The turning point was that Kepa is not a penalty shooter, it’s not that he’s not a good goalkeeper.

‘The penalty that he