Real Madrid vs Chelsea: Three lessons we learnt in UCL semifinal first leg
Chelsea returned to London with a leg up in its first Champions League semifinal match. The Blues played out a 1-1 draw in Spain with Real Madrid, grabbing a crucial away goal in the process. Here are three lessons we learnt in the important draw:
1. Advantage: Chelsea
Chelsea returns to the Bridge with a vital away goal, resulting from some brilliant awareness from Christian Pulisic. The manner in which the tie unfolded would give more confidence to the Blues than the actual result. Chelsea dominated Real Madrid for the entire first half. It would have ended up scoring three to four goals if the forwards had been a little more clinical.
When a team like Real Madrid changes its system, rather than playing to its strengths, you know there’s something special about the opposition. Zinedine Zidane tried to match Chelsea’s system by utilising a three-at-the-back formation. However, this decision backfired as the Blues found a lot of space to move into. Pulisic’s run before the goal was also missed by Madrid’s defenders and the American went on to rattle the snake’s net emphatically.
More from Champions League
- Chelsea 0-2 Real Madrid: 3 Blues positives and negatives
- Chelsea vs Real Madrid: 3 Blancos the Blues must stop
- Why you can’t count out Chelsea in the UCL against Real Madrid just yet
- Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea: 3 Positives and 3 negatives
- Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea: 3 lessons learned in UCL quarterfinal loss
While a number of Chelsea fans will probably be disappointed with the result, it is important to understand that this is the semifinals of the coveted Champions League. Coming home off a convincing performance with an away goal is a huge advantage for Thomas Tuchel’s men. Tuesday night, there was a sense of confidence about the Blues, a sense of swagger. This was evident as Pulisic troubled Los Blancos’ defenders tirelessly and N’Golo Kante moved around with ease. Antonio Rudiger was also involved in a couple of confident runs as he skipped past Madrid players. Another moment that was beautiful was when Mason Mount ran past a flying Casemiro with a brilliant move. Tuchel’s men are high on confidence and now it is time to put in another industrious performance in the second leg.
2. N’Golo Kante is unstoppable
Kante was simply running the show on Tuesday. He was unstoppable throughout the game as he was visible in every phase of the game. Kante has the unique ability to read the game faster than everyone else. He is always in the right place, at the right time, and that’s what makes him a world class player. In the first leg, Kante completed more dribbles (six) than the whole Real Madrid team combined (five). To put this in perspective, Real Madrid has Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Vinicius Jr and Karim Benzema, who are all great dribblers.
Another thing that might have gone unnoticed was the way Chelsea’s midfielders positioned themselves. Real Madrid started with a 3-5-2 formation, which meant that it had three midfielders and three centrebacks. However, Chelsea’s two midfielders—Kante and Jorginho—managed to outrun Madrid’s world class midfield and pushed Kroos further back, limiting his ability to create plays higher up the pitch. On several occasions, Kroos was dropping into the back line to maintain possession. This was pretty strange as Madrid already had three centrebacks in its back line, and it showed the impact of Kante and Jorginho.
Tuchel will probably rest one of Jorginho or Kante this weekend as they prepare to take Real Madrid in the second leg next week. Mateo Kovacic could be back in the mix, but Tuchel will probably start Mount or Billy Gilmour as one of the deep-lying midfielders.
3. Chelsea needs a proper striker
Tuchel has tried many different combinations up top since taking over. He has tried playing Timo Werner as a sole striker, Kai Havertz as a false nine and even a striker-less formation with Mason Mount. He has even given a couple of games to Olivier Giroud in a traditional centre forward role. Despite possessing a plethora of talent at the top, Chelsea has struggled to score goals. Against Real Madrid, the Blues’ final product was lacking again as they were awfully wasteful in the final third. There were at least three chances where Chelsea could have easily scored. However, the lack of incisiveness meant that the Blues returned home with just an away goal advantage, having dominated Real Madrid for almost the entirety of the tie.
This makes you wonder what the team could look like if a proper striker played regularly. Unfortunately, due to some baffling decisions, the Blues find their regular goalscorer, Tammy Abraham, ghosted from the squad as the manager has to make tough decisions. It also makes you wonder if the club is taking Abraham for granted. Werner has been shambolic in several games, but he seems to have the coach’s confidence. On the other hand, Abraham hasn’t been given any chances at all. While we continue to ponder upon these topics, it is obvious that these questions will disappear into oblivion if Tuchel manages to win a trophy this season.
Next. The rain in Spain did not make Chelsea wane: Thomas Tuchel’s tweaks. dark
What are three lessons you learnt? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!