Chelsea’s 4-1 loss (7-1 on aggregate) to Bayern Munich was heavily criticized by some. Then Barcelona got obliterated so maybe Chelsea did better after all.
It was clear Chelsea had an uphill battle against Bayern. Half the squad was injured or suspended, the bench was basically the academy, and the Blues were already down 3-0 on aggregate. Frank Lampard and his side faced criticism by some who either thought a miracle was possible or simply believed the gulf between the two clubs was smaller than it was.
In the lead up to the match against Barcelona, the Spanish side was seen as a much fairer opponent for the Germans. That was proved categorically false. Barcelona lost historically to the tune of eight(!) to two. Whatever mystique surrounded the Barcelona teams of Pep Guardiola to Luis Enrique died to Hans-Dieter Flick’s Bayern Munich machine.
Simply put, Chelsea was taught a lesson by the Germans. Barcelona was schooled. The latter’s loss paints the former’s in a somewhat kinder light, but only if the Blues take the right lessons from it and move forward.
Bayern bashed Barca in a similar way to Chelsea. A very high line was magnified by the German sides usual counter press mixed with some strategic man marking here and there. Past that, Bayern progresses the ball quickly up field and their attacking four always seem to find pockets of space to create disaster for the opponent.
Barcelona could have broken through the Bayern line a few times early on and made the result much different. A mix of poor finishing, good defending, and great goalkeeping saved them.
Chelsea under Frank Lampard is often compared to Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp. That tells a lot of the story but the rest of it seems to be that Lampard is most inspired by the types of tactics that come out of the Bundesliga. Chelsea tries, in its own prototype way, to play like Bayern. They clearly are not Bayern.
The Blues are often caught on the break after the press is broken through, not unlike Bayern was against Barcelona. The difference is the German side has defenders who can reposition quickly and effectively enough to sniff out danger. When that fails, they have a keeper that can help make the difference. The Blues still lack that in personnel and in tactics.
Offensively, Bayern was memorizing to watch because everything just seemed to work for them. Of course, many of their players have been at the club for years upon years. Chelsea’s group is relatively new to one another. The quality of player is also important. Bayern does their due diligence before signing anyone. Chelsea is faster on the draw and good transfer windows have been hard to come by. This summer is going a long ways towards bridging that gap however.
This is not to say Chelsea should just copy everything Bayern is doing. After all, the Blues tried to become Barcelona in blue for the longest time before realizing that they could not do that. There are certainly lessons to be taken from Bayern, especially recently, that the Blues should find a way to put into practice in their own way.
In hindsight, Bayern was just teaching the Blues a lesson that they should take on board. Barcelona was simply schooled. Chelsea does not need to be Barcelona in blue nor Bayern in blue, but they can learn the right lessons from both and become the best Chelsea in blue going forward.