Lukaku angers Azpilicueta, James and Chilwell trademark: 3 things spotted in Al Hilal vs Chelsea

It was back in November against Juventus that Ben Chilwell's 2021/22 campaign came to an abrupt end. An innocuous challenge with Adrien Rabiot resulted in the England international suffering a partially torn ACL and he underwent surgery a month later to correct the issue.

Chilwell will not return until the summer (at the earliest) and his absence has been compounded over the last five weeks by his good friend and fellow wing-back, Reece James, also being sidelined.

The 22-year-old suffered a torn hamstring against Brighton and Hove Albion on December 29 and hasn't featured for Chelsea since. And while James is inching ever closer to a return to action, he will not represent the Blues at the Club World Cup.

He was, however, included in the party that travelled out to Abu Dhabi for the competition. James has continued to undertake his recovery work away from the first-team group but has at least been able to enjoy the warmer climate.

Today, James was joined by Chilwell at Chelsea's training base in the UAE. It was a smart move by those at the club to ensure the 25-year-old continues to feel part of the first-team set-up despite his long-term absence.

The duo were part of the squad that arrived at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium ahead of the semi-final clash with Al Hilal and back together in a match environment for the first time in more than two months, James and Chilwell opted to undertake their trademark pitch walk.

That became a recurring theme during the first half of the campaign during which the form of James and Chilwell was vital to Chelsea's Premier League title bid, one that has very much fizzled out in their absences.

Since Roman Abramovich made the decision to buy Chelsea in the summer of 2003, no Premier