Chelsea travels to Turin to take on Italian giant Juventus in matchday two of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League. This is easily the Blues’ toughest test in the group as they make the trip over to Italy with first place on the line. Despite the Old Lady’s poor performances in the league, Massimiliano Allegri’s side is always up for European nights. Juventus defeated Malmo 3-0 during the opening week of the UCL campaign, cementing the Italians as Chelsea’s biggest threat in Group H.
Whereas Allegri’s men rolled on matchday one, Thomas Tuchel’s team struggled to break down a disciplined Zenit squad. The Blues have not played their best football as of late and a number of injuries to key players certainly won’t help. Nevertheless, the reigning Champions of Europe should be able to dispatch of any opponent on the continent on their best day. They will be favored, but it’s bound to be a tough bout. These are the fixtures that supporters love about the Champions League. The history between the two is split right down the middle (one win for each side and two draws in four past meetings), so bragging rights will be on the line, along with control of the group. A few key components relating to this contest will decide the winner.
Here are three things to look for in Chelsea’s trip to Juventus:
1. Response
As briefly touched on earlier, the Blues have not played their best football in recent weeks. They’ve struggled in large parts of games against Aston Villa (x2), Tottenham, Zenit and Manchester City. The latter handed Chelsea its first loss on the season at the weekend. Tuchel’s men were uncharacteristically pressed so high up the pitch that it pinned them back in their own final third. The 3-5-2 experiment didn’t help matters either as the Blues’ midfielders were stuck defending and unable to get the ball out quickly. This left the attackers on an island.
The home side registered zero shots on target in a rather sluggish display. Chelsea had the perfect plan to stop Man City until, well, it didn’t. The Citizens scored on a deflected shot early in the second half and all of the hard work that’d been put in for 50+ minutes beforehand was thrown out the window. Tuchel was left scrambling as he tried to find a response. It was the first time he failed to do so against Pep Guardiola.
Nevertheless, the loss to Man City is no reason to panic—yet. The Blues’ response to the first defeat of the fresh campaign will be crucial. Tuchel needs his side to rebound positively after a string of incomplete performances as of late. I want to preface my next statement with saying the German manager will not be fired this season, so please spare me the assumptions or the paraphrases of what I’m about to write. When it rains, it tends to pour at Chelsea. The last few seasons have shown us that the Blues usually get down on themselves following a loss and spiral into a poor period of results (see the winter period last year that led to Frank Lampard’s sacking). This has not been the case under Tuchel thus far, so hopefully this trend he’s got the team on continues. Chelsea’s response to the Man City result will be important, especially against a side as prestigious as Juventus, who is looking for a “pick me up” result themselves after a poor start.