With the exception of two games in early December, Chelsea haven’t played in front of our own supporters since football was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic well over a year ago.

Having been a popular figure with supporters at Stamford Bridge for almost a decade, Azpilicueta knows exactly what we have been missing while playing in empty stadiums, and is desperate to give our fans something to celebrate on their return at Wembley.

‘It’s so special to have the fans back,’ he said. ‘Hopefully the game we played against Arsenal will be the last time we have empty stadiums. To have the fans back in a final as well, everybody is looking forward to that.

‘We are very pleased to be joined again so we can share these moments and when you look back on the last year playing in empty stadiums, it has been tough for everybody. Now, hopefully, we can give the fans a moment of joy and we can share it all together.’

One of those games played without fans present over the past year was last season’s FA Cup final, when everything seemed to go against us. After taking an early lead, Azpilicueta was one of three Chelsea players forced off with an injury as we were reduced to 10 men by a dubious second booking for Mateo Kovacic and our skipper conceded a penalty which allowed Arsenal to equalise on our way to a 2-1 defeat.

While the Spaniard is eager to erase those painful Wembley memories by lifting the FA Cup for the second time with Chelsea, he insists no extra motivation is needed on such a big occasion.

‘You don’t need extra motivation when you arrive in the final of the FA Cup. We know how special it is in the country, for our club as well, and for me. It was a bad feeling last season and we want to come back like in 2017, when we lost the final and came back the following year and we won the cup. I hope this year we can replicate that because when you arrive in the final you want to win and be successful.

‘I gave away the penalty and got injured, as a team we didn’t perform at our level. We were 1-0 up and we had the game in our hands, and we let it go. We were not at our best level and the guys that were here last year want to change that result and hopefully, we can take that in a positive way to be ready and even more motivated, even though you don’t need to be motivated for these games.’

Thomas Tuchel has already confirmed that Kepa Arrizabalaga will start as our goalkeeper in the final, as he has in every round of the FA Cup this season.

Azpilicueta also revealed how he has been supporting his fellow Spaniard through the ups and downs of his time here so far and explained why he has full confidence in all the goalkeepers at Chelsea.

‘When things are not going well, he is a close friend and I try to help him as much as I can. He has had good moments and bad moments, and this is when you see the reaction. I think Kepa has shown from the bad times that he has been working very hard trying to improve and learn from the goalkeeping coaches.

‘We have many open conversations about everything. He has always felt that he can learn and push himself, he is still a young goalkeeper and I’m sure he still has a lot to offer. As a captain and a friend, I’ll help him as much as I can.

‘The most important thing that we have is an amazing team of goalkeepers. We have Willy, Edou has been amazing since he has joined us, and Kepa. All three of them, for me it’s a position we have very well covered. I have full confidence in whoever steps in the goal because I see these guys in training every day.’

Of course, the FA Cup final isn’t the only massive game we have coming up, with two important Premier League fixtures remaining in the race for a top-four finish, followed by the Champions League final in Porto.

‘We have two weeks of big games,’ added Azpilicueta. ‘We have had this for the last few weeks already, playing a lot and playing big games, so we know that we have to be really focused. We have four big games in front of us, but we have everything in our hands.

‘We know that we have to fight for it, that they are going to be difficult games, but we have to stay positive. When you have a defeat like we had on Wednesday it’s difficult to accept, but we have to be brave and take the next step, which starts at Wembley.’