Chelsea at Malmo: Three lessons learnt in Blues’ big win

Antonio Conte has been in the news a lot recently as he was officially appointed Tottenham manager early on Tuesday. This means the word ‘suffer’ has suddenly found its way into the vocabularies of English football fans—for one reason or another. The Italian’s reign at Chelsea featured a lot of suffering without the ball, the 1-0 defeat against Manchester City being the most notable example. Nevertheless, it’s a new era at Stamford Bridge and Thomas Tuchel has brought sustained success with him. The Blues suffered against Malmo on Tuesday as they grinded out a 1-0 win in the Champions League, displaying the progression of play under the new gaffer.

The victory takes Chelsea temporarily level on points with first place Juventus in Group H. The Blues outplayed their Swedish opponents from the opening whistle and despite an endless barrage of shots, only returned home with one goal to their name. Three points are three points though, they count all the same for Chelsea.

Here are three lessons we learnt in the Blues’ UCL victory:

1. Thomas Tuchel’s team gets results

It isn’t always pretty, especially in a competition as difficult as the Champions League. Chelsea has a plethora of important players missing right now, so while the fixture list may look relatively easy at the moment, playing every other three days without a few stars can be difficult. The notable absences include Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Romelu Lukaku, Mason Mount and Timo Werner. Therefore, it’s not difficult to see why the attack is suffering in some contests. Malmo presented a far more formidable challenge at home than it did in SW6 due to the defensive organization and discipline it showed.

In the days of old, these are the games Chelsea often goes on to lose. Conte, Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard all had issues breaking down low blocks from significantly weaker opposition. They would then be left open to the counter when throwing the kitchen sink at the opponent and the Blues would often lose inexplicably. We all know those matches. However, Tuchel doesn’t ever let things reach that breaking point. Tuchel’s organized shape, ruthless press and trust in his system allow his sides to get results from even the toughest matches. Chelsea was able to leave the Eleda Stadion with all three points on Tuesday because of the way Tuchel approached the contest. He didn’t underestimate his foes, he didn’t allow the Blues to let up and he didn’t abandon his gameplan. The German is getting results for his team and it’s often times these ugly wins that determine whether or not the squad will lift silverware come the end of the season.