This week has provided two of the most thrilling games in European football history, and certainly the most thrilling back-to-back evenings outside of a World Cup. Chelsea should put a stop to this trend with a routine, sedate win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Let Liverpool and Tottenham have the headlines. Heaven knows they rarely have anything to celebrate. All Chelsea need to do is quietly dispatch Eintracht Frankfurt. People can go on talking about the Champions League semifinals, while Chelsea as a matter of routine take their place as the third English team in a European final this season. If there are to be any stunning comebacks and heart-in-mouth moments on the last Europa League Thursday, let them come in Spain.
Chelsea must beware any motivation Eintracht Frankfurt may take from Liverpool and Tottenham.
The Blues have a slight advantage in the tie with the away goal in their back pocket, and with the home fans behind them could easily take an early lead. Frankfurt manager Adi Hutter would only need to remind his men “Tottenham did it. Liverpool did it. And, oh year, we’ve done it several times” and Chelsea could be on the receiving end of European drama.
Frankfurt did not win the first game of any of their three knockout round ties leading to the semifinals. They drew the openers against Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan, and lost the first leg against Benfica 4-2. In each tie, their aggregate margin of victory shrunk, winning on away goals against Benfica. That trend favours Chelsea, but the experience of coming from behind, the confidence and resiliency, is with the visitors.
The Blues must be on guard against the early goals. In the six knockout round games Frankfurt won or drew, four of their five opening goals came within the first 25 minutes, two of those in the first 10 minutes.
Fortunately for Chelsea, Eintracht have scored only one goal in the first 15 minutes of the second half, the period of the game when Chelsea have been most vulnerable this season. The Blues, for their part, may have turned the corner on that trend, scoring their first two goals against Watford in the 48′ and 51′. This spell of the game seems to be the most active this week. Four of the seven goals scored by English teams in the Champions League this week came in the 50s, with one player scoring both goals in each game.
Chelsea are at a defensive disadvantage for this game with Antonio Rudiger and N’Golo Kante out of the lineup. Eintracht Frankfurt will certainly attack through the Blues’ midfield in the space and against the players that no one can cover to the level Kante can. This will be their key to pushing Chelsea back early, taking the sting out of the game and the fans.
The Blues, then, would be in the uncomfortable position of having to follow Liverpool and Tottenham, or even taking inspiration from then. Better for them to avoid going behind at all, and not putting any more stress on their fans nor drawing any comparisons with those other teams beyond being a fellow European finalist.
In the other tie, Arsenal go to Valencia with a 3-1 advantage. That scoreline is ripe for a thrilling comeback, with Valencia perhaps trying to salvage some pride for Spain and La Liga after Barcelona’s capitulation at Anfield.
Let Arsenal have the drama. They have so little else, it’s the least we could do for them.