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Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid: Lessons learnt in huge UCL victory

By Hridyam Arora

Chelsea's German head coach Thomas Tuchel (L) and Chelsea's Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic react at the final whistle during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge in London on March 17, 2021. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea's German head coach Thomas Tuchel (L) and Chelsea's Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic react at the final whistle during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge in London on March 17, 2021. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 17: Ngolo Kante of Chelsea and Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Chelsea FC and Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge on March 17, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 17: Ngolo Kante of Chelsea and Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Chelsea FC and Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge on March 17, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /

3. Excellent game plan, execution

This was possibly the best Chelsea performance under Tuchel so far. That doesn’t mean Atletico wasn’t bad—it was—but Simeone’s players looked way worse only because they played a great and far superior Chelsea side.

Atletico came in with intensity in the first half, but Chelsea got hold of possession and dominated throughout the game. This is the kind of stuff that separates good performances and great performances. Whenever the Blues had the ball, it seemed like they were having their fun with it. They were bouncing the ball around, playing through the press with quick first touch passes, made Atletico move the way not many teams are able to do. They defended the ball really well. All of Cesar Azpilicueta, Kurt Zouma and Antonio Rudiger had great games.

Azpilicueta had that scare in the first half, but apart from that, he was inch-perfect inside the box and with the ball. Zouma was his usual aggressive self and also had a great game. He hasn’t really started many games since Tuchel’s arrival, but this performance must’ve made the German coach think about something.

The guy who had the best game in defense was Rudiger though. He was everywhere, and he did everything. The German was the reason for Stefan Savic’s red card, he was also one of the reasons why Joao Felix wasn’t really able to get into the game, as well. Rudiger didn’t put a foot wrong in this entire game and it showed why he’s one of the most underrated centrebacks in the Premier League.

Kante also had a great game defensively. Honestly, this midfield partnership of Kante and Kovacic isn’t really bad at all. I would personally love to see more of this. All in all, it was a great performance from Chelsea. This is the most fun I’ve had watching the Blues under Tuchel, and hopefully, it gets even better after this.

Next. Breaking an opponent down is brilliant, but Chelsea likes counters. dark

What lessons did you learn in this contest? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!

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