Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has admitted to feeling a sense of regret following his highly-publicised touchline row with Maurizio Sarri during the EFL Cup final.
The Spaniard, whom Sarri brought to Chelsea last year, picked up a slight knock with minutes to go in extra time against Manchester City as the game headed for a goalless draw and penalties.
Sarri, in a move which seemed to be premeditated rather than reactive, looked to introduce Willy Caballero, whose penalty heroics won Manchester City the EFL Cup against Liverpool in 2016, for the final minute of extra time, only for Kepa to wave him away, setting in motion a furious back-and-forth of gesticulations and shouting between the pair before the Chelsea boss finally relented.
Reflecting on that infamous exchange with Sarri at Wembley, Kepa told Cadena SER: "I'm not proud of what happened. I lived in a storm that week.
"It was a situation that I hadn't lived and that came to me in a flash. Everything went very fast, with many keystrokes.
"I apologised, he explained to me what he had felt. Internally, it was finished the next day. It was an unpleasant situation, but we left in a good way and from there we made a great end of the season."
Kepa failed to save a single penalty as Pep Guardiola's side held their nerve to win their first of three domestic trophies that season.
Sarri's side recovered following that setback, finishing third in the Premier League table and winning the Europa League ahead of the Italian leaving in the summer to manage Juventus.
Leo Nieboer
