César Azpilicueta: ‘A bad FA Cup final feeling makes you want to come back’

"Ialways had this mentality of being open to new ideas,” César Azpilicueta says. “I never felt that I was fully complete because in my career I played different positions and I always tried to get the most out of them. Also that allowed me to look into players from different parts of the pitch and create different relationships in the team. When you have to change you have to pick up new relationships. With different managers, I’ve always been flexible.”

Azpilicueta, who is expected to start against Leicester in the FA Cup final on Saturday, is Chelsea’s great survivor. After struggling under Frank Lampard, the defender has rediscovered his poise since Thomas Tuchel’s appointment in January. Tuchel is the eighth manager for whom Azpilicueta has played since joining Chelsea in 2012 and he is the latest to find the job is easier with the unassuming Spaniard in the team.

“I always adapt,” Azpilicueta says as the captain ponders hopping from one position to the next in England. Although the 31-year-old arrived as a right-back, he has never complained about being shunted around. The team have always come first. Azpilicueta got on with it when he played at left-back for José Mourinho’s title winners in 2015 and he adjusted when his declining pace began to become an issue a year later, slotting in as right-sided centre-back when Antonio Conte introduced Chelsea to a back three.

“The biggest change I’ve had was to play in a back three with Conte because at that time I only played in a back four on the right or the left,” Azpilicueta says. “I never played as a centre-back. In England, we know the history of centre-backs. Normally big, strong, different kind of football. It was a challenge. I spent lots of time improving because I knew I had to be ready for it.”

Azpilicueta, who has played a pivotal role in Chelsea joining Manchester City in the Champions League final this month, has always maintained a steady demeanour. The club’s revolving-door policy when it comes to managers does not surprise him. Chelsea were European champions when Azpilicueta joined from Marseille and he quickly saw standards were high.

“I’m a winner but I came from Osasuna, where we were fighting against relegation. Away from home, we would win two or three games a season and if we got a draw we were happy. It was a big step moving to Marseille. They demand titles but it was not the same. We were not asked to win the Champions League.”

Azpilicueta, who has won six trophies in England, describes it as “a DNA of winning” at Chelsea. “When we are not having a good season we have a change of managers, but I always felt it’s all about winning. You have to be ready, because we know the different manager can ask something different. We had this situation this season, when we were not at our best.”

Azpilicueta thinks back to watching from the bench when Chelsea last faced Leicester, who all but sealed Lampard’s sacking with a 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium in January. “That was a difficult night,” he says. “The result was bad, but I think the feeling we all had was worse with the way we performed. We are now in the position that we wouldn’t have believed possible that day.”