Andreas Christensen taking his next step at Chelsea: Holding off Barcelona
Andreas Christensen’s meteoric rise through the ranks of Chelsea’s academy to the starting XI this season has finally put an end to the whole ‘John Terry is the only player to successfully make it out of Chelsea academy’ patter.
On Tuesday evening, Andreas Christensen will step out under the floodlights of Stamford Bridge for the biggest test of his burgeoning Chelsea career. Lionel Messi has never found Chelsea the easiest or luckiest team to play against. In eight appearances against London’s premier club, the prolific Argentinian finished every game goalless, including that famous penalty miss in the 2012 Champions League semi-final. Christensen’s task on Tuesday is ensuring that record stays intact.
Christensen can partially thank David Luiz for his introduction to full-time senior football at Chelsea. The fall-out following the Brazilian’s insubordination in questioning Antonio Conte’s tactics after the two Champions League games against Roma cast Luiz to the outside. He has been sidelined with a number of mysterious injuries and has featured in very few games. His few matches were minor, at best.
Christensen’s importance to Antonio Conte’s starting XI was obvious in the recent defeats against Bournemouth and Watford. Christensen picked up a minor hamstring injury in the early stages of the defeat against the Cherries. It was the result of playing too many games. Fortunately, it only kept him out of action for the subsequent Watford defeat. His reappearance in the next game against West Bromwich Albion helped the team win 3-0.
Messi will not be Christensen’s only problem, though. There is also the small matter of the Catalans’ other South American striker, Luis Suarez. Between them they have scored 39 goals and made 15 assists across all competitions. In the Champions League this season, though, the pair have just three Lionel Messi goals to show from their six games.
Must Read: Willian quietly and steadily on track for career best season
Suarez, unlike Messi, has scored against the Blues, but only twice. Most notably, one of those goals came in the game during which he infamously took a bite out of Branislav Ivanovic’s arm. His 90th minute equalizer in a Premier League game in April 2013 came when he should not have been on the pitch. He was subsequently banned for 10 games.
Christensen’s head-to-head record against Messi, Suarez and Barcelona comes in two group games for Borussia Monchengladbach in the 2016/17 season. The Germans lost both games, 2-1 at home and 4-0 away. Christensen featured for the entirety of both games.
Interestingly, during the home defeat Christensen played at the centre of a three-man defence, and Thorgan Hazard scored the goal. In the away game, a switch in formation to a four-man defence with the Dane at right-back resulted in a heavier defeat.
Antonio Conte will almost certainly play with three at the back on Tuesday. That will suit Christensen and it will hopefully provide the platform for Hazard to once again get on the scoresheet against Barcelona. If Messi continues to fire blanks at Chelsea, so much the better.
Next: Four takeaways in Chelsea's win over Hull: Willian, Giroud, youth and a welcome headache
Like Suarez, Andreas Christensen will be chomping at the bit to get the game underway as he looks to continue his ascent to the highest of footballing echelons.