5 key takeaways as Chelsea clinch Champions League place

4. Giroud delivers again (again)

Honestly, I’m getting tired of writing this, but once again, Giroud was there for his team when they needed him. I said as the restart began that Giroud could be the unlikely hero of the season, and he well and truly has been.

At the start of February, no one could’ve predicted his rebirth, having been sitting in the stands for ten consecutive games. But then injury and poor form elsewhere forced Lampard to recall him, and since then he has not looked back.

Seven starts. Six goals. All crucial to the scoreline, most of them game-winners. All this having started two games in the six months prior. The definition of underrated.

While Tammy Abraham was unstoppable early on but then faded as the season wore on, Giroud has ended the year on an extreme high, leading Chelsea to the top four and earning himself a new contract in the process.

Without the Frenchman up top, it is very possible the Blues would not be in the Champions League right now.

The only hope right now is that next season, even with Timo Werner coming in, Lampard doesn’t make the same mistake twice and keeps him involved in the first team, because he has shown what he can do, many times.