Chelsea was swept aside by Bayern Munich, ending the English side’s campaign. What lessons can be learned from the Champions League exit?
Chelsea went to Germany knowing they had a monumental task ahead of them. Instead, they were statues as Bayern Munich put on a clinic for the world. What lessons can the Blues take away from this battering?
1. Keep yourself in the game
Many criticized Antonio Conte and his approach in the infamous Manchester City away game in the 2017/18 season. In that match, Chelsea showed the most devoted display of tactical discipline ever seen in the game. Many said it was a cowardly performance, they expected Conte to “go for it”. For context, the Blues were supposed to play Barcelona twice, Manchester United and Manchester City all in the space of two weeks.
Conte needed to get something out of the game, Manchester City were on a rampage in the Premier League. Conte knew that he could lose control of the game very quickly if he was careless, at the same time he knew that his team needed to preserve energy for subsequent matches as he had another match just three days later. Chelsea lost that game. Many fans lost their minds.
Conte knew he needed to stay in the game, it’s difficult to stay in the game when you’re two or three goals down, it is easier to stay in the game when you’ve not conceded, or even just one goal down. Conte needed a result, his approach was spot on but it didn’t work out.
Chelsea needed to stay in the game against Bayern Munich, or in this case, the tie. The problem is that by the time the second leg came around they were already one leg out of it. Actually, one leg and three toes. Chelsea conceded three away goals in the first leg, creating an uphill task for themselves in the away leg. It didn’t help that Chelsea was missing four key players. The tie was out of Chelsea’s reach by the time they were making the trip to Munich. Chelsea could’ve been more pragmatic in the first leg, then perhaps they wouldn’t have needed a miracle to get past the tie.
2. A complete striker does more than score goals
Chelsea was sliced apart by Bayern Munich, but the main culprit was the man that led the line for the German Champions, Robert Lewandowski. He single handedly decided the game on the night, and not just with goals.
Lewandowski made three key passes, created two big chances then topped it off by scoring a brace and registering two assists. There are some strikers that only offer goals, and when they’re not scoring, they’re useless to the team, unfortunately Tammy Abraham fits more in this bracket, though it’s worth noting that Abraham is relatively at the beginning of his career.
Lewandowski, though, belongs firmly in the other category. The category of strikers in which the goals they score are just additional contributions. Lewandowski is a frighteningly good goal scorer; however, his intelligence, strength and speed make him so much more than a goal scoring threat. Lewandowski has created five big chances in the Champions League this season, on par with Kevin De Bruyne. Tammy Abraham and even Timo Werner should work hard to improve their non goal contributions to the game. That is what separates good strikers from top strikers.
3. Defensive organization would always be more important than personnel
Bayern Munich was as disciplined as they were fluid, and they were very fluid. Bayern played a high line against Chelsea, yet Chelsea could barely get into Bayern’s half of the field, it speaks to how well Chelsea was cut off on transition. Chelsea was dispossessed not long after Bayern turned the ball over. Lewandowski’s first goal came from a basic through ball between the lines.
Bayern never needed to leave first gear to outclass Chelsea because Chelsea was everywhere and nowhere positionally. Bayern’s third goal embodied this. There were three blue shirts in the box, and the scorer was one who came rushing into the box from midfield. No one saw him, no one bothered to look.
More attention needs to be paid to Chelsea’s tactical and defensive discipline. Teams are finding it very easy to break Chelsea down. Come the 2020/21 season this poor defensive positioning would be punished more frequently. The club may not be able to play Bayern off the park at Munich but they can make themselves difficult to break down, and they didn’t.
What lessons did you learn from Bayern? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!