Fifteen minutes after full-time, Chelsea’s unused substitute Alex Matos stood on the touchline at the entrance to the tunnel and asked a member of backroom staff, ‘Are the others coming out? Where are they?’. He was told they were in the dressing-room.
The conversation continued, all fairly laid-back and jovial. Matos, 19, then asked the coach if it was right the squad now had two days off. Yes, it was. The player seemed surprised. Finally, a couple of other substitutes joined him and they set off on a jog around the St James’ Park pitch. They were moving quicker than some of their team-mates had done earlier.