Chelsea’s Road To European Glory

Group Stage – Sevilla, Rennes and Krasnodar

The opening match of Chelsea’s 2020-21 Champions League campaign gave no hint of the thrills that lay ahead, with the Blues playing out a disappointing 0-0 draw against Sevilla in an empty Stamford Bridge. The visitors – crowned Europa League champions less than two months earlier due to the Covid-affected schedule – arguably edged the better of the chances but it was an encounter that failed to ignite as both managers sought to ensure they didn’t start Group E with a defeat.

The goals arrived for Frank Lampard’s men on matchday two but the first hour of Chelsea’s 4-0 victory in Krasnodar was not as comfortable as the final scoreline suggested. After Jorginho missed a first-half penalty, the Blues were indebted to a goalkeeping clanger to grant them a 1-0 half-time lead, with Krasnodar’s Matvei Safonov letting a Callum Hudson-Odoi shot squirm in. The Russians rallied in the second half, rattling Edouard Mendy’s crossbar on 55 minutes, but as they pressed in search of an equaliser Chelsea found space on the break and ruthlessly exploited it. In the 75th minute, Timo Werner made it 2-0 from the spot and three minutes later Hakim Ziyech danced through to make it 3-0. Christian Pulisic added a fourth late on to complete an oddly arduous rout.

Chelsea were handed a far easier route to victory in their third Group E outing, with Rennes defender Dalbert giving away two penalties within 37 minutes and getting sent off in the process. The punishment was harsh on Dalbert, who had handled accidentally, and on a Rennes side who never recovered from that early blow. But Chelsea weren’t about to turn down such a generous gift and Werner slotted away both first-half penalties to take full control. Tammy Abraham made it 3-0 early in the second half to complete a comfortable victory.

Things were not so straightforward in the return leg, however. Chelsea were again the better side and should have been ahead before Hudson-Odoi gave the Blues the lead in the 22nd minute. But as Chelsea failed to take their chances to extend the lead, Rennes grew in confidence. Five minutes from time, the hosts capitalised on their growing pressure as Sehrou Guirassy thundered home a header from Rennes’ 11th corner of the night. But Chelsea rallied immediately, redoubling their efforts to once again turn the tide. As the clock ticked over into injury time, Werner shot against the Rennes goalkeeper, sending the ball looping high into Brittany night. Substitute Olivier Giroud showed his striking instinct, racing in and leaping highest to head in the loose ball. Chelsea had pinched it, securing their place in the knockout stages after just four Group E outings.

While progress was assured, victory in Seville on matchday five would guarantee top spot – and Chelsea did the job in style. Giroud again proved to be the Chelsea hero as he put on a masterclass of centre-forward play. The Frenchman scored all four goals in a 4-0 win, netting the perfect hat-trick with left foot, right foot and delightful flicked header before winning and scoring a penalty ten minutes from time. An emphatic show from Chelsea’s veteran striker.

Chelsea’s final group-stage game against Krasnodar was a dead rubber for both teams and a much-changed Blues side struggled for rhythm. The visitors saw a chance to claim a major scalp and took an early lead but Chelsea quickly reasserted their dominance and levelled via a Jorginho penalty. Despite peppering the Krasnodar goal with 18 shots Chelsea were unable to complete the comeback but it was job done – the 1-1 draw meant the Blues finished unbeaten in Group E and top of the section with an impressive 14 points.

Round of 16 – Atletico Madrid 0-3 Chelsea

After a turbulent winter in which Chelsea had briefly slipped to eighth in the Premier League and Lampard had departed Stamford Bridge, Chelsea supporters would have been forgiven for feeling a sense of trepidation about the Round of 16. Their opponents, Atletico, were three points clear in La Liga and they had at the helm a seasoned European campaigner in Diego Simeone – a man who had won two Europa League trophies and reached two Champions League finals in ten years at Madrid.

But the Blues were starting to click under their new manager Thomas Tuchel, who was getting a tune out of the players as they settled into his preferred 3-4-3 formation and could boast his own European credentials having led Paris Saint-Germain to a Champions League final just six months earlier.

Chelsea also had a slight advantage in having the away leg staged on neutral territory in Bucharest due to Covid-related travel restrictions in Spain. And the neutral location and empty stadium seemed to have an impact on Atletico, who engaged in periods of high pressing but for much of the first half played as if they were the away team, sitting deep in a defensive 6-3-1.

Simeone’s low block did reduce space between his lines and cut off passing lanes but Tuchel’s men spent much of the first half passing and probing the Atletico defence at will, racking up 70 per cent possession. The second half saw the Madrid side adopt a slightly more adventurous mindset but Simeone was left to rue the change in approach when his team was caught upfield in the 68th minutes, allowing Chelsea to break on them. Marcos Alonso raced into space on the left and clipped in a low cross that the Atleti defenders failed to deal with, the ball bouncing up to Giroud, who slammed home the only goal of the game with a spectacular overhead kick.

That wonderful goal aside, the match wouldn’t go down as a classic. But Chelsea’s performance showcased the control and patience that would characterise future displays under Tuchel – a tactical showing that denied the soon-to-be-crowned La Liga champions a single shot on target for the full 90 minutes of their ‘home’ leg.

Tuchel turned the tables on Atletico in the second leg at Stamford Bridge, inviting the visitors to attack his rock-solid defence while looking to hit them on the break. The suspension of key men Mason Mount and Jorginho was a blow to Tuchel but he had an ace to play in the form of N’Golo Kante, who returned from injury to provide a tour de force in midfield.

Alongside Mateo Kovacic, the Frenchman dominated the centre of the park and Chelsea counter-attacked dangerously into spaces vacated by Simeone’s aggressively positioned full-backs. The plan worked perfectly and on 34 minutes Kai Havertz played in Werner in down the left flank, with the German sprinting unchecked to cross for Ziyech to slot home. At 2-0 up on aggregate, Chelsea managed out the tie expertly. Joao Felix did his best to carry the fight for Atletico but Chelsea stood firm and were largely untroubled. With ten minutes to go, Atleti centre-back Stefan Savic was sent off and there was yet time for further gloss when substitute Emerson scored with his first touch to complete the 3-0 aggregate victory. Tuchel had passed his first European test at the Bridge in some style, extending his unbeaten start as Chelsea manager to 13 matches.

Quarter-final – Porto 1-2 Chelsea

Chelsea’s quarter-final draw looked far kinder with Porto – unfancied, out of form and with top scorers Mehdi Taremi and Sergio Oliveira suspended – rated as one of the weaker teams left in the competition. But the Primeira Liga side put up an impressive fight in Sevilla; the neutral venue selected to host both legs.

Indeed, in the opening half hour Tuchel’s men were caught off-guard by an unusually high Porto press that disrupted Chelsea’s passing game and created several openings for Sergio Conceicao’s men. But the Blues gradually gained control, pinning Porto’s 4-5-1 back to a 6-3-1 by pushing wingbacks Ben Chilwell and Reece James further forward. In addition, defender Cesar Azpilicueta was instructed to move up into midfield when in possession, giving Chelsea a 2-3-5 formation. Tuchel’s bold tactics paid off as early as the 32nd minute, when a period of Chelsea pressure saw the ball played through to Mount, who expertly span his marker and fired low into the far corner with the Blues’ first shot of the tie.

Porto continued to press hard, forcing nine corners. But Chelsea found joy in pressuring Porto left-back Zaidu Sanusi, who was poorly protected by attack-minded Luis Diaz ahead of him and by left-sided centre-back Pepe who, at 38 years old, struggled to offer cover in the 4-5-1. Chelsea overloaded the position with James and, on occasion, even Azpilicueta and Kovacic pushing forward to join Mount and Havertz in swarming the left-back to create multiple openings.

Ironically, however, after all the pressure on the opposite side of the pitch, Chelsea’s second goal came from their left flank and by something of a fluke. Porto’s deputising right-back, Jesus Corona, failed to deal with a hopeful long pass and Chilwell pounced, pinching the ball to run through on goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin. The Chelsea wingback rounded the keeper and passed the ball into an empty net to secure a 2-0 ‘away’ win.

In the second leg, Tuchel understandably prioritised progress over entertainment, instructing his players to sit deep and cede possession as Chelsea looked to shut the contest down. James and Azpilicueta were far less adventurous down the right and while the Blues looked to catch Porto on the break through Chilwell on the left, Tuchel wasn’t prepared to overcommit. The smothering job worked. Porto striker Taremi – back from suspension – scored a wonderful overhead kick in the last minute of injury time but Chelsea had strangled the life out of Porto, restricting them to just 0.3 expected goals as the Blues saw out the tie with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Semi-final – Real Madrid 1-3 Chelsea

Elite opposition demand elite performances and Chelsea didn’t disappoint in their semi-final against Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid.

The 13-time European champions hosted the first leg, lining up in a 3-5-2 formation but matching Chelsea’s 3-4-3 out of possession as Real attempted to press forward and force the Blues into defensive errors. But Tuchel’s men repeatedly broke the press and the Blues’ movement off the ball was key to Chelsea’s early success, with Kante repeatedly evading marker Toni Kroos to initiate attacks. Ahead of Kante, a mobile attacking trio of Mount, Werner and Pulisic took it in turns to drop into the space between Real’s defence and midfield, pulling Zidane’s defence out of position to leave gaps that Chelsea could exploit. Pulisic shone in the role, creating a succession of chances and opening the scoring with a solo run through the Real defence and past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Real were being outmanoeuvred but in Karim Benzema they had a world-class striker capable of producing something from nothing and he did just that to level the scores with a moment of magic. But Zidane knew his team was fortunate to go into the break on level terms and at half-time the Real manager sought to cut his losses, dropping the high press to make the second half a tighter affair. A more cautious 45 minutes followed, with Tuchel unwilling to risk the slim advantage of an away draw and Zidane satisfied to escape a potentially calamitous evening with only limited damage.

In the second leg at Stamford Bridge, Real started brightly and Benzema again looked a potent threat. But Chelsea quickly regained the upper hand to take control of the tie. Chelsea’s central front five – Werner and Havertz in attack, Kante and Jorginho in midfield and Mount, switching between roles – produced an exceptional display of intelligent positioning and pressing to stop Real building up through the centre. Real’s wide centre-backs were allowed time on the ball, with Chelsea confident that neither Nacho nor Eder Militao possessed the elite ball progression needed to bypass the press and move play into the final third. And so it proved, with Chelsea repeatedly recovering the ball whenever the visitors built up on the flanks.

Tuchel’s men grew increasingly dominant; allowing Real the majority of possession but undoing them in transition, with Rudiger and Andreas Christensen confidently bringing the ball out of defence to create midfield overloads. The roaming centre-backs drew Real players away from their marking duties, creating space for Kante and Jorginho or opening gaps into which Chelsea’s attackers could drop and receive a pass.

It was a Christensen foray that initiated Chelsea’s opening goal of the night. Christensen passed to Kante in space and the Frenchman took two Real players out of the game with a deft turn and layoff to Werner. Werner returned the one-two and Chelsea were three-on-two racing into the box. Kante passed to Havertz, who broke into the area and clipped a shot over the advancing Courtois and onto the bar. But Werner was alert, stealing a march on the Real defence to leap high and nod the ball into an empty net.

At 2-1 down, Real pushed forward but were largely contained by a Chelsea side now happy to sit off and hit the La Liga giants on the break. Despite the onus being on the visitors, it was the Blues who looked more dangerous, with Havertz again hitting the bar and Chelsea registering another 12 shots on goal to Real’s four. Eventually, Chelsea got the second goal of the night; Mount slamming home from close range in the 85th minute to complete a 3-1 aggregate victory that did not flatter Tuchel’s men. The Blues had outclassed the ultimate European heavyweights, but an even greater test lay in store in the final – Manchester City.

Final – Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea

Psychology was in play as Chelsea and Manchester City prepared to meet in the Champions League final, with the Blues having hit an untimely patch of poor form while Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, was scarred by suffering two defeats in six weeks to Tuchel’s Chelsea.

Both men had reason to blink but Tuchel stood firm, trusting his hybrid 3-4-3/3-5-2 formation to come good. But Guardiola opted to throw the dice in spectacular fashion. His experimentation with a 4-3-3 that morphed into a 3-4-3 featuring an attacking diamond was not even the most surprising part of his line-up – the City manager didn’t field a single defensive midfielder despite playing two attacking full-backs. Seemingly unsettled by the recent defeats to Chelsea, Guardiola threw caution to the wind, deciding that all-out attack was the best form of defence.

But Chelsea’s vastly experienced back three, shielded by Kante and Jorginho, proved equal to City’s attacking swarm. With City fielding no out-and-out centre-forward to mark, wide centre-backs Rudiger and Azpilicueta were given license to follow City attackers into midfield when they dropped deep. James’ pace at right wingback largely neutralised the threat of Raheem Sterling while the Chelsea front three dropped off to condense the space in which City could operate.

In possession, Chelsea were able to escape City’s high press, using the wingbacks as out-balls from Mendy. While the City press did block progress through the middle, Chelsea were able to effectively work the ball up the flanks. With 72 and 61 touches respectively, James and Azpilicueta saw more of the ball than any other Chelsea player, highlighting the importance of the right-sided build-up play. Next most involved was left wingback, Chilwell, with 52 touches, while Jorginho – so often the focus of build-up – had just 39 touches as Chelsea kept the ball away from the City-dominated centre and instead allowed the Italian to focus on his defensive duties.

It was from the flank that Chelsea’s winning goal arrived. Mendy chipped the ball out to Chilwell – a favoured escape route from the City press – and Chilwell’s one-touch layoff to a deeper-lying Mount was sublime, giving Mount a rare moment of time and space in the centre of the pitch. Werner made yet another of his runs that had so unsettled the City defence throughout the first half, dragging three City players with him. It opened up a yawning gap for Havertz to sprint into and Mount didn’t disappoint with his through-ball, delivering an inch-perfect 40-yard pass that Havertz poked past the onrushing Ederson, rounding the City keeper to slot into an empty net.

Despite City’s possession, Chelsea had created the better chances and deserved to be 1-0 up at the break. The slender lead enabled Tuchel to instruct his players to drop deeper into a flat back five shielded by three in midfield; not inviting danger but denying Guardiola’s men the spaces in which they flourish. City passed and passed in the second half but struggled to find chinks in the Chelsea armour. On the few occasions that the Citizens did break through, Chelsea’s defenders were alert to the danger; Azpilicueta and Chilwell both producing excellent clearances. So complete was Chelsea’s defensive performance that Mendy didn’t have a single save to make after the eighth minute.

Facing a world-class attacking unit who threw everything at them, Chelsea stood strong. The margin of victory could have been greater, with Werner running City ragged in the first half and Pulisic clipping narrowly wide in the best chance of the second. Chelsea saw out the final in relative comfort and were once again crowned champions of Europe. This time, no-one could argue that the Blues weren’t entirely deserving of their success.