Chelsea’s prospects were transformed by the arrival of Thomas Tuchel in January.
Although supporters were desperate to see club legend Frank Lampard succeed as manager, results were inconsistent and change was needed.
It arrived as a run of five defeats in eight league games threatened to completely derail Chelsea’s season and see them fail to qualify for the Champions League.
The appointment of Tuchel, a former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain manager, had an immediate impact on results and performances.
The Blues went on a ten-match unbeaten run, while conceding just two goals, which propelled them back into the top four.
As well as tightening up a leaky defence, Tuchel showed faith in the expensive yet underperforming duo of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
The latter would reward him with an impressive end to the season and the decisive goal in the Champions League final.
After getting past Atletico Madrid, Porto and Real Madrid, Chelsea beat Manchester City to claim the trophy for just the second time in their history.
It was the perfect way to round off a testing few months and recover from the surprise of losing to Leicester City at Wembley in the FA Cup final.
Several players, including Tammy Abraham Fikayo Tomori, Victor Moses, Olivier Giroud and Marc Guehi left Stamford Bridge this summer.
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcus Bettinelli, Lucas Bergstrom
Defenders: Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Trevoh Chalobah
Midfielders: Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Saul Niguez
Forwards: Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Romelu Lukaku
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