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Last summer, Chelsea signed Joao Pedro in the middle of the Club World Cup. The Blues went on to win that tournament in the United States, spent even more on transfers when they got home, and proceeded to sabotage themselves with a spate of red cards and the distraction of a mid-season managerial change.
While Chelsea were in America earning some sweet FIFA cash with one hand and spending it with the other, Aston Villa were still counting the cost of missing out on the Champions League on the last day of the Premier League season.
Villa vs Chelsea brings two different outlooks together in opposition
Watching on as clubs like Chelsea spent freely, Villa began to let their frustrations show. There have been ups and downs for Unai Emery's team on the pitch this season, but there's a growing sense that supporting Villa is more about money than magic.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your disposition, football will do all of the talking at Villa Park this week. Chelsea and their new head coach are heading to Birmingham and it could be a pivotal game for both teams.
If the Premier League is awarded a fifth Champions League place this season, as it was last, it's Chelsea that will kick off this fixture on the outside looking in.
Villa have been in a Champions League spot for months but are sliding. Chelsea, while never buoyant, exactly, are moving in the opposite direction. Sunday's loss to Arsenal aside, the Blues are finding their feet under Liam Rosenior.
Trajectory is far from the only difference between these two clubs. Chelsea, bolshy and brash, believe they are a Champions League club and that they will confidently prove as much between now and May regardless of what they do in the competition itself.
Villa are upstarts to the core, forever talking of ceilings and restrictions and constraints and limitations. Despite their having spent much of the season so far in their highest league position for years, Villa's recent result have thrown supporters into turmoil and there's little to suggest the mood is dissimilar behind closed doors.
Rosenior the man-ager sees himself as an elite motivator as much as a tactician. Emery is an obsessive lover of details and systems, presumably understanding the word 'process' differently than his opposite number on Wednesday night.
A defining fixture for two Champions League hopefuls
Where Chelsea are prone to ill discipline on the pitch, they are at least dynamic and dangerous enough to score often and win matches regularly.
Villa's own long winning run feels like a long time ago. For want of a better way to put it, they are a bit stuck. In the wake of Friday's defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, there's more scrutiny on his team selection and tactics this week than at any other time in his Villa tenure.
Their steadfast adherence to a system, easily thwarted narrow attacking play and loyalty to misfiring players could be excused away on the basis of league position prior to Molineux. Not anymore.
Villa supporters looking out for team news on Wednesday with an especially keen eye on the inclusion or otherwise of Ollie Watkins will do so knowing that the visit of Chelsea has become their most important game of the season so far.
It's vital for Rosenior and the Blues too. If the dotted line is drawn between fifth and sixth at the end of the season, fifth is the ultimate target for both of these teams and Chelsea aren't there yet.
The gap between the two team's at kick-off is six points. By definition, that's six points between Villa and losing a Champions League position, so seeing the difference slashed to three would be a body blow for Emery's team and the ultimate test of their mettle.
If they can extend the buffer to nine points, Villa will turn all their pressure, all their worry back on Chelsea at a stroke. They're more than capable of rebuilding it for themselves too but nine points with 10 games to go would still be a good place to be.
There are big matches all over the Premier League this week. In terms of direct consequences and long-term implications for both teams involved, none of them get close to this one.
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