Chelsea welcomed Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge for the 1st leg of this seasons Champions League quarter-final. A rainy London evening with Todd Boehly in attendance as he looks to beat other bidders and buy the club. The crowd was bouncing and they answered Tuchel’s call for louder support. Ancelotti selected the lineup many expected but Valverde came in for Asensio. Tuchel started Mendy in goal with a back three of Christensen, Silva, and Rudiger. James, and Azpilicueta started as the wing backs while Kante and Jorginho started in midfield. Pulisic, Mount, and Havertz started up front. The lineup was as predicted and the only gripe many had was why Kovacic had not started the game.
Chelsea started the game brightly but Real Madrid grew into it. The first goal came against the run of play in the 21st minute as a blistering counter attack by Real saw Vinicius send in a cross for Benzema and the French striker placed his header past Mendy. Chelsea did not switch on soon enough and Modric sent in a cross which Benzema perfectly headed past Mendy once again to make it 0-2 in the 24th minute. Chelsea grew back into the game and Jorginho put in a great cross for Havertz to head past Courtois in the 40th minute. 1-2 and the momentum was back in Chelsea’s favour. The first half was sloppy for Chelsea but going into the 2nd half there was hope.
Kovacic and Ziyech came on at half time but Chelsea shot themselves in the foot with Mendy sloppily passing to Rudiger and Benzema latching on to it to score into an empty net. 46th minute and Real were 1-3 up. Loftus-Cheek, and Lukaku came on in the 2nd half as Chelsea chased the game and there was a period where Chelsea could have easily got a 2nd goal. Lukaku came agonisingly close and Courtois was forced into some stunning saves. Chelsea dominated the whole 2nd half but Real began to waste time and defended as a team to keep the Blues out. Full time came and a big win for Real Madrid with it.
Chelsea Team Review
Goalkeeper
Mendy was not at fault for the first two goals but the pivotal 3rd goal was all his fault and not for the first time this season being cute at the back cost us. Mendy needs to bounce back along with the rest of this team because that 3rd goal could end up being the costly one.
Defenders
The defence in the first half was all over the place. Christensen looked switched off and had a tough time handling Vinicius. Silva did not look his usual self and Rudiger didn’t have an impact either. For a defence as miserly as ours was last season this same defence looked disjointed yesterday. Reece took some time to get into the game but did well going forward. Azpilicueta was ok but his pace was lacking. At the moment our defence has cost us our last two games.
Midfielders
Jorginho and Kante were not great and continue be in poor form this season. Mount was trying hard but nothing was coming off for him. Kovacic came on at half time and the fluidity was great to see. Loftus-Cheek also came on and added some drive from midfield that was missing in the first half. Yesterday we were losing the midfield battle mainly due to the fact that Jorginho and Kante did not turn up.
Forwards
Pulisic had a quiet game and struggled. Havertz was one of the better players once again and got a crucial goal. It might not mean much now but it is something that offers the team some hope. Havertz was physical and dropping deep and making an impact. Ziyech came on at half time and also provided creativity and pressing from the front. Lukaku came close to scoring and should have scored an open header.
Manager
Tuchel selected the lineup many wanted bar Kovacic. He corrected that at half time but he couldn’t have accounted for the lack of desire and silly mistakes by the team. Tuchel said post match that the team needs to switch on other wise its going to be a tough few games.
Chelsea are still in it because anything can happen in football. If we play like we did in this game though then this team will suffer at the Bernabeu. For now Chelsea need to switch on and head to Southampton which won’t be an easy game either. COME ON CHELSEA!!!