Chelsea has now won its second game in the League Phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) and currently sits atop the 32-club table. This is due to a resounding victory in Greece last night, where they emerged 4-1 winners after a performance that had far more positives than negatives.
Chelsea is the favorite to win this competition, not least because it has by far the highest UEFA coefficient score. This means that Enzo Maresca's men will be favored in any tie that arises in this tournament. Panathinaikos is currently sixth in the Greek Super League, so nothing that happened yesterday was particularly surprising; however, there are some key takeaways from this blowout.
Only Badiashile made a claim to start league games
Badiashile had a dominant game, and while that in itself isn’t impressive considering the opposition, when you add his Conference League performance to his display against the league leaders on Sunday, it becomes clear he has outperformed Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, and Tosin Adarabioyo in recent matches.
Badiashile excelled with his passing, particularly in how he methodically moved the ball between the Panathinaikos lines. He completed 99 of 104 passes on the night, falling just short of 100. His long passing was also exceptional, completing 8 of 10 long balls, and his aerial ability was on display as well, winning 3 of 4 aerial duels.
With his performance against Panathinaikos, Badiashile has now been the best defender in blue for two consecutive games. As SebC__ might say, “Benoit Goodiashile.”
Chelsea still doesn’t take enough shots
Chelsea won the game by a three-goal margin, but their shot-taking was poor. Managing only 14 shots against a sixth-place Greek team leaves much to be desired. This issue has plagued the west London club throughout the league season, where it ranks 12th for shots taken and 8th for shots on target after eight games played.
The shot volume against Panathinaikos is particularly concerning given how efficient the Blues appeared to be in the final third. If 14 shots are the product of efficiency, what will the volume be when they aren’t as effective?
Defending still an issue, even against midtable Greek teams
Chelsea faced pressure in the first 5-10 minutes of the game and could have conceded a goal before the two-minute mark. In fact, Maresca's men surrendered the first big chance of the game, with Filip Jorgensen making a remarkable save from a well-taken Panathinaikos free kick.
Although the opposition managed only eight shots, two of those were big chances—so significant that Chelsea came very close to conceding in another Conference League game that should realistically have been a walk in the park.
The Blues had every reason to keep a clean sheet against Diego Alonso's men, and the goal conceded yesterday means Chelsea has now allowed three goals in the competition—more than the ten teams below them in the Conference League table occupying second to eleventh place.
There will be games where the Blues may not enjoy as much joy in the final third, and defensive solidity will be crucial. It remains to be seen whether Maresca's men can hold their own when that time comes; data thus far suggests they cannot.