Calum McFarlane can make history in Pep Guardiola mismatch as Chelsea eye FA Cup final upset | OneFootball

Blues’ interim head coach would become the most inexperienced manager ever to win football’s oldest competition

It isn’t normal at all, though. While Calum McFarlane’s desire to cut through the pomp and ceremony of the FA Cup final is understandable, it is unlikely to prove successful. This is the biggest day of his career by a huge margin, and the most important day of Chelsea’s faltering season.

Victory at Wembley against Manchester City would not only go some way to redeeming Chelsea’s disappointing campaign and secure European football for next season, it might also help them to convince Xabi Alonso - a top contender for the permanent head coach role - that he could make himself very much at home in their corner of west London.

The race is still open, but his CV clearly appeals. These are problems, or perks, for another day, however. Today is about the opportunity that presents itself to Chelsea.

It is also about the opportunity that presents itself to their interim head coach, who would surely become, by many metrics, the most inexperienced manager ever to win the FA Cup in the competition’s illustrious history if he can find a way to outwit Pep Guardiola.

McFarlane is preparing to take charge of just his sixth match as a head coach at senior level. Guardiola’s own glittering managerial career has garnered 6.8 trophies for every game McFarlane has overseen.

The greatest mismatch in the history of the FA Cup final has the potential to produce one of its most awesome storylines.

McFarlane is 38 and a typical evening after work involves watching Disney Pixar’s Cars with his two-year-old son. There has been none of that this week.

McFarlane and his makeshift coaching staff have been preparing for the final by watching clips of Guardiola’s City and mulling over whether to return to a 4-2-3-1 formation or persist with the 3-4-3 that earned a point at Liverpool last weekend.

We meet again: Calum McFarlane will come up against Pep Guardiola for the second time in the FA Cup final

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Despite being involved in a straight shootout with Arsenal for the Premier League title, City rotated heavily against Crystal Palace on Wednesday and will be fresh when they face Chelsea, who haven’t beaten City under any of BlueCo’s managerial hires.

Not since the 2021 Champions League final under Thomas Tuchel have Chelsea beaten City. McFarlane was there, in Porto, in a City capacity. Funny how things work out.

The challenge is almighty, yet McFarlane fared well in his very first match in senior management on that perishingly cold night at the Etihad Stadium in January.

Enzo Fernandez’s scrappy stoppage-time leveller earned Chelsea a battling point. If Fernandez, Cole Palmer and Chelsea’s most important players are on song, City can be troubled - and defeated.

“My girlfriend’s family are massive Chelsea fans, not my family,” McFarlane said on Thursday, before jumping back in with a quick clarification. “Well, they are my family, really, aren’t they.”

As the season draws to a close, McFarlane is growing warmer when the spotlight is on him in press conferences. A role he never asked for but nevertheless had thrust upon him - twice in four months - is bringing him out of his shell.

Chelsea believe that despite unfavourable odds and their undeniable underdog status, this time can be different

Chelsea’s understated interim remains as much, though. A tracksuit or a suit for the big day? “Just a normal tracksuit.” McFarlane is reserved, but he is sure of himself, and the Chelsea players have his respect.

“It’s massive,” McFarlane said. “One of the oldest and most prestigious competitions in the world. You remember the [Roberto] Di Matteo goal 40 seconds into that game [the 1996/97 final against Middlesbrough]. I’ve taken one game against Leeds in the competition. We’re all really proud to play in this.”

Back in 2022, McFarlane won the Under-18s Premier League title as assistant coach of City with a team featuring Nico O’Reilly, Rico Lewis and Max Alleyne.

He now stands in their way with Chelsea, who have lost all of their last three FA Cup finals but believe that despite unfavourable odds and their undeniable underdog status, this time can be different.