Chelsea's preparations for Wednesday's Europa League final went less than perfectly on Tuesday evening after manager Maurzio Sarri stormed off during a training session.
The Italian was seen angrily walking off the Baku Olympic Stadium pitch, throwing his cap to the ground and kicking it, twice.
Tempers fraying in the Chelsea camp? 😡
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 28, 2019
Higuain and Luiz come together in training and Maurizio Sarri is furious! pic.twitter.com/obSZ51KGGd
Sarri's reaction came after an altercation between defender David Luiz and striker Gonzalo Higuain, although a Chelsea spokesperson insisted the manager was not unhappy with the players, but the fact the training session was open to the media.
"Maurizio's frustration displayed at the end of training was not related to any of his players, but was due to not being able to practice set-plays in the final 15 minutes of the hour-long training session as it remained open to media."
Whatever the cause of Sarri's departure, it resulted in Chelsea players and staff standing around for a few minutes after the training session was interrupted.
A manager storming off mid-training session and players clashing: hardly the most productive build-up to a major European cup final.
Chelsea face Premier League rivals Arsenal on Wednesday evening, with kick-off scheduled for 11pm UAE time.
