Amid the Russian invasion of its neighbour, Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson carried flowers inside the country's yellow and blue colorings onto the pitch earlier than kick-off.
Both teams stood for a minute's applause, while a message on the stadium scoreboard in yellow and blue read "Football Stands Together". Liverpool and Chelsea fanatics had been seen with Ukraine flags in their sections of Wembley. One supportive banner in Ukraine's blue and yellow colours study "You'll never walk on my own" in connection with Liverpool's anthem. Wembley's iconic arch become lit up in Ukraine colorings on Saturday night.
Chelsea launched a assertion on Sunday saying the club was praying for peace in the wake of the invasion. But they have been criticised for failing to say Russia within the brief message.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel stated the assertion, which called the scenario "horrific and devastating", pondered the opinion of all of us on the membership, together with their Russian owner Roman Abramovich. "Absolutely it includes him and this reflects my opinion like all and sundry else's opinion within the membership," Tuchel stated on Sky Sports.
Asked if he had spoken to Abramovich considering Saturday's announcement in which the billionaire stated he changed into passing "stewardship and care" of Chelsea to the membership's charitable foundation, Tuchel introduced: "No, we haven't and this is common."
Abramovich, who will stay the membership's owner, made the flow after calls in Parliament for Russian oligarchs to be stripped of their belongings. "I actually have each day conversations with Petr Cech and very often with Marina (Granovskaia) - they are in charge of soccer and it's my know-how they will stay in fee so it's going to now not trade a lot for me," Tuchel said.
Tuchel left struggling Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku on the bench for a 2d successive fit as he opted for Kai Havertz after the German scored in opposition to Lille on Tuesday. Lukaku, Chelsea's £ninety seven million club report signing, has scored best 10 desires considering the fact that returning from Inter Milan last 12 months.
For Liverpool, Naby Keita replaced Thiago Alcantara after the Spanish midfielder became injured inside the pre-in shape heat-up. Caoimhin Kelleher replaced Alisson Becker in aim and Mohamed Salah made simply his 1/3 League Cup look in nearly 5 years.
