For Cesc Fabregas, it was his first winners’ medal as a Chelsea player and the midfielder, who supplied the pass which led to our second goal, praised the collective effort.

‘It’s always great to have the winning feeling,’ stated the Spaniard. ‘It’s the first trophy for me at Chelsea so I’m very happy.

‘There were maybe five or 10 minutes in the first half when they were better than us but overall we were in control.’

‘It seems like it’s going the right way. We have a very young team which is very talented. At difficult moments we can compete; we have a good mix of experienced players and young players, but generally we are all around 25, 26 or 27. We have a lot of quality and great character, so we are very proud.’

Gary Cahill, meanwhile, was restored to the starting line-up, with Kurt Zouma operating in a midfield role, and the defender expressed his delight with the eventual outcome.

‘It was difficult, as we knew it would be, on a big pitch against a good team,’ he said. ‘The first half was tough but I thought we deserved it in the end. We worked hard for each other and sometimes when you work hard you get what you deserve; 2-0, a clean sheet and we’ve won the cup.

‘It wasn’t defensive even though we played Kurt in midfield. Most of the time we play with two defensive midfielders but we only played with one, which freed up Cesc and Ramires to get forward a bit more. It wasn’t defensive as a set-up but defensively we were very solid.

‘It’s an amazing feeling to win another trophy, especially for myself as it’s one I haven’t won before, and it feels just as nice as the others. I’ve got one more to go but I’m just delighted for the club, delighted for the fans and delighted for every single player that was involved, not just today but from the start of the competition.’

Petr Cech started the game, and the Blues goalkeeper said winning the match was all that mattered.

‘Ten years ago it was my first cup and now I have a third one,’ said Cech. ‘Obviously I was delighted to be picked for the final. It’s always difficult for those who aren’t picked but you can see we are a team and everybody is enjoying the success.

‘When you play a final you are all aware that history only remembers the winners. We wanted to win and in a few years’ time nobody will remember who we beat. It will just be our name there.’

Attention now turns to yet another important game, Wednesday’s Barclays Premier League meeting with West Ham United at Upton Park, where we will look to maintain our five-point advantage at the top of the table.

‘We’ll take it all in a positive way and it will give us confidence for the rest of the season, but there will be no big celebration because we have to prepare for Wednesday, it’s a massive game,’ explained Fabregas.

‘Let’s go game by game; Wednesday is our priority and then we will have a week to rest for PSG, which is another big game.’