Euro 2020 Group Stage roundup: How did the Chelsea stars do?

Chelsea had and still has the largest contingent at the Euros. With every group bar group C featuring at least once Blues player, there was plenty to get excited about from the Chelsea fan perspective. How did everyone do?

Group A: Jorginho, Emerson, and Ethan Ampadu

Italy has firmly stamped their claim as favorites of this tournament after the group stage. It’s hard to pinpoint which player is a standout for them when almost every single player has played brilliantly. Jorginho is no exception. He’s been a huge part of their buildup and defense in transition in all three matches and will be so long as Italy stays in the tournament. Emerson, meanwhile, only featured in the final match but he put in a solid shift. The Italians have Austria next round.

Wales, meanwhile, did as they did last Euros and scrapped out a knockout berth. Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu appeared in all three matches but the only one of note if the final match against Italy. Starting, Ampadu put in a solid shift before being very harshly sent off. Wales have Denmark next but it could very well be the end of Ampadu’s Euros regardless.

Group B: Andreas Christensen

Chelsea, bereft of Belgians at the moment, could only look towards Christensen in this group. Denmark had a nightmare start to the tournament due to the near tragedy involving Christian Eriksen. Forced to play on because UEFA is soulless, they fell 1-0 to Finland.

The following two matches, however, Denmark rose to the occasion. They didn’t defeat Belgium, but they kept them on the back foot much of the match. Against Russia, they simply refused to go out. Christensen scored one of the cleanest long range strikes you’ll ever see to get Denmark over the line and set for a face off with Wales in the next round.

Group D: Mason Mount, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Mateo Kovacic, and Billy Gilmour

Skipping over Group C, in part because it had no Chelsea players and in part because certain writers that are also Atlanta United fans hate to see Frank De Boer succeed, Group D was the Chelsea heavy group.

England, through much handwringing by supporters throughout, easily topped the group. Mason Mount, when he played, was pretty obviously England’s best player and the only one that looked as though he had ideas. Even Reece James against Scotland looked rather poor. Ben Chilwell went unused as Gareth Southgate shuffled between most of his squad. Plus, the little matter of Mount and Chilwell having to quarantine due to a potential Covid exposure. They face Germany in the knockouts but, should they advance, they have a rather clear route to the final.

Croatia particularly labored in this group despite finishing second. Mateo Kovacic was his usual self in being good on the ball but not being able to offer much in the way of goals or assists. Croatia had a lot of that in their side. Everyone is good on the ball but very few players can put it in or set someone else up. They got through to face Spain who will know all about struggling to put the ball in the net (that is, until they break the dam).

Scotland perhaps would still be in the tournament if they recognized Billy Gilmour’s ability sooner. In the one match he played (against England in his first Scotland start), he was quite easily, obviously, and abundantly the man of the match. He bossed the middle of the park. Unfortunately, he tested positive for Covid following that match. His tournament ended a match early but in one match he showed more than many were able to this Euros.

Group E: Cesar Azpilicueta

Perhaps the issue with Azpilicueta was that he wasn’t technical enough for Spain. After all, if a player can’t make 1000 perfect passes, what good could they possibly be? At least, that’s how it looked for Spain’s first two matches as they tried to pass the ball into the net. Luis Enrique, having come to his senses, decided it might be a good idea to add a highly decorated leader to the team as a right back instead of shoe horning a midfielder in at right back again.

It obviously worked. Spain looked much more forward thinking against Slovakia. They had a little bit of help from Martin Dubravka, but once the goals went in they started to flow. Croatia is up next, and if Enrique is smart, he’ll back Azpilicueta once again. Don’t change a winning formula mid tournament for the sake of it after all.

Group F: N’Golo Kante, Olivier Giroud, Kurt Zouma, Kai Havertz, Antonio Rudiger, Timo Werner

The other Chelsea heavy group was the group of death. It went down to the wire, but France, Germany, and Portugal all advanced as expected with the Chelsea players shining.

Kante was his usual Ballon d’Or destined self as he held the French midfield together and let others flourish. Giroud didn’t get much game time, which was odd in light of Karim Benzema looking particularly poor in the first two matches and Kylian Mbappe, despite his whining, looking better with Giroud on than Benzema. Kurt Zouma went unused. France face Switzerland next.

Germany had a roller coaster of a group stage. They looked well beat against France, only to turn around and batter Portugal. They labored against Hungary, but just about got over the line. Rudiger played throughout and though he was more let down by his defensive partners than anything, he failed to put his marker in like with Chelsea. Kai Havertz, however, stole the show. He was the catalyst for nearly everything against Portugal and played a major role against Hungary. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say he was Germany’s best player of the group stage overall. Werner, unfortunately, was stuck with just cameo appearances where he could make little impact.

What did you make of the first round? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!