Three ways Chelsea can prepare for Bayern Munich from RB Leipzig draw
By George Perry
2. Sacrifice the body
Chelsea players have been a bit afraid of the ball lately when it’s been coming at them at moderate to high speed. They should be afraid of what will happen if they don’t throw their body in front of the ball: it’ll be left to Kepa Arrizabalaga to deal with. Terrifying.
RB Leipzig’s defenders were the goalkeepers in front of Peter Gulasci, minus the use of their hands. Every time a Bayern player lined up a shot, the RB Leipzig players put themselves between the ball and the goal. They blocked three shots along the top of the six yard box, and each one involved several players making themselves the target.
Bayern moves the ball so quickly and cleanly that they routinely pull the goalkeeper and defence to one side before taking a shot from the other. Better goalkeepers than Arrizabalaga are left helpless by Bayern’s movement, let alone Robert Lewandowski’s ability to finish from any position, angle or body contortion. Low xG means nothing to Bayern.
The only way to prevent Bayern from putting the ball into a functionally empty net or making Arrizabalaga look even worse is to prevent the ball from getting anywhere near the frame. Chelsea’s defensive line will be deformed and Arrizabalaga will be pulled out of position. Whoever is left facing the Bayern player about to shoot has to step forward, facing forward (that’s crucial, Jorginho – we’re not just talking about Hector Bellerin any more), and block the shot himself.
Every Blue has to assume that he is the last line of defence, the only player who can prevent that shot from becoming a goal. Because many times, he will be.