N’Golo Kante took his talents across midfield, pressing Atletico Madrid deep in their zone. As only he could, he would press the centre-backs towards their box and still recover in time to make tackles in Chelsea’s half.
N’Golo Kante introduced a new spin on Chelsea’s 3-5-2 against Atletico Madrid. He discarded the existing templates for a midfielder, and instead played as a hybrid winger-mid. When Chelsea transitioned from offence to defence, Kante pressed high to close down Atletico’s centre-backs. This bought his team more time to organize in their own zone, and kept Atletico under the threat of his tackling prowess.
Pedro and Willian normally handle the pressing duties. However, this is limited to running at the ball carrier and notionally blocking off a pass lane. Neither winger has the inclination or skills to go in for a tackle, assuming they were in position to do so. If they somehow were close enough they would be like the dog who caught his own tail.
Kante took the role of the right winger in transition, as Eden Hazard was on the left and Atletico did not want to bring the ball out anywhere he could make them pay for it. But whereas Kante usually retreats to Chelsea’s side of midfield once his teammates advance the play, he stayed up against Atletico. He would join counter-attacks, maintain possession in Atletico’s third and take vertical passes from Tiemoue Bakayoko rather than exchanging horizontal passes with his midfield partner.
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Only Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard had a more advanced aggregate position than Kante. Kante took 70% of his touches in Atletico’s half of the pitch. In the previous three games, his highest proportion of touches in the offensive half was 53% against Leicester. Likewise, 66% of his completed passes came in the offensive half, compared with 55% against Leicester and even less in the other games.
| Opponent | % of touches in offensive zone | % of Chelsea's total touches (all zones) | % of passes in offensive zone | % of Chelsea total passes (all zones) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atletico Madrid | 70 | 8 | 66 | 8 |
| Stoke City | 46 | 12 | 50 | 14 |
| Arsenal | 45 | 9 | 52 | 10 |
| Leicester City | 53 | 11 | 55 | 12 |
Even with his unusual positioning he still fulfilled his usual defensive duties. In fact, he had identical defensive stats as Tiemoue Bakayoko. Both finished with five tackles, two interceptions and one clearance. Kante’s only unusual stat was his relatively low contribution to Chelsea’s total number of passes. He made 8% of the team’s passes, after averaging 12% the previous three games.
N’Golo Kante’s performance against Atletico Madrid was a crucial component of Antonio Conte’s strategy. Chelsea imposed their game plan on the hosts, with Kante denying them any comfort to handle the ball in their own zone.
This raises interesting questions ahead of Saturday’s clash with Manchester City. If Conte sends out a 3-4-3 the question is moot. But if he returns the 3-5-2, will Kante reprise his role? Manchester City’s backline is still their greatest vulnerability, despite their improvements from last season. If Kante can rattle John Stones and get a jump on Nicholas Otamendi, he can force turnovers that will set Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard in on goal. This danger could force City to pull back their lines, blunting their attack.
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However, bringing Kante out of midfield creates far more space than Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane and Kevin de Bruyne need to inflict serious damage. The more conservative tactic would have Kante interrupting – rather than preempting – Manchester City’s offence. As fast as Kante is, he would not be able to close that much ground on City’s forwards and midfielders.