Chelsea have won the UEFA Super Cup beating Villarreal on penalties in Belfast

So it was a change far removed from Arrizabalaga’s tantrum that day at Wembley when he refused to make way for Willy Caballero. He finished a loser in more ways than one that afternoon. Manchester City won and Arrizabalaga was castigated as selfish and vain. No such judgements on Wednesday night. Chelsea had lost their last three UEFA Super Cup finals – and Villarreal were proven penalty specialists.

Thomas Tuchel gambled one last time,the ultimate gamble,the biggest one a manager can make with a minute to go in extra time. He changed goalkeepers. And not just any goalkeeper, either. Tuchel played the joker; the goalkeeper whose refusal to stand down for a penalty shoot-out had until now come to define his career at Stamford Bridge. He brought on Kepa Arrizabalaga.

This was a big call, in a big match. No club plays in the UEFA Super Cup without winning one of European’s football’s two biggest trophies. No Champions League, no Europa League, no Super Cup. There wasn’t a player out there who didn’t care about the colour of his medal. And Tuchel had handed the responsibility for that to Arrizabalaga.

It was a triumph for Tuchel, too. A bold move that could easily have backfired in defeat. Had Chelsea lost Tuchel would have been accused of undermining his number one, Mendy, of disrupting unnecessarily. Yet here was a manager taking control and Switching goalkeepers is still a maverick move. Yet it did not look so on Wednesday night as Chelsea paraded their trophy and danced.