BEVERLY HILLS, February 24, (THEWILL) – Since Thomas Tuchel took over as new Coach at Chelsea, one recurring feature of their game has been clean sheets. In the eight matches he has superintended, out of the lot of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur, Sheffield United, Barnsley, Southampton and Atletico Madrid, only Sheffield and the Saints were able to successfully breach the Blues backline with one goal apiece.
Before his arrival, former manager Frank Lampard’s Chelsea had bagged five goals in January alone, at home in Stamford Bridge to Manchester City (3) on the 3rd of January and away at the King Power Stadium to Leicester City (2) on the 19th.
That leaky defense has now been plugged and there was no stronger proof of that than in their Tuesday night last 16 first leg UEFA Champions League tie against La Liga top club Atletico. The Diego Simeone side, which were second in goal scoring only to Catalan giants Barcelona, have netted 45 goals in just 23 games in a prolific scoring blitz.
Yet, hard as they tried, they could not find the net against Tuchel’s charges in a match played in the Arena Nationala in Bucharest, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions that counted against the London team. It was atypical of Atletico’s recent dip in form but it is no coincidence that Chelsea has become a tough side to score against.
There were questions about Tuchel’s decision-making especially after he harshly took off Callum Hudson-Odoi in their League draw against Southampton, last time out, but his decisions against Simeone’s side on Tuesday bought dividends for the Blues. Chelsea belatedly matched the resolute Spanish league leaders while displaying loads of discipline in defense and midfield and ended up with the advantage of an away goal.
Many considered it the toughest test that Tuchel was going to face in the German’s early start to life as Chelsea manager when the draws pitted his new side against Atletico especially as the latter was talking La Liga by storm, whilst looking impregnable. But, a lot has happened since then that counted in Chelsea’s favour going into the first leg.
Simeone’s side changed to a more expansive style of football this season than they have been known for over the years and this alteration was largely responsible for the vast progress they made especially in creating a wide gap at the top of the table in front of the traditional pair of defending champions Real Madrid and Catalan favourites Barcelona.
However, for reasons best known to Simeone and his backroom of tactical staff, Atletico suddenly reverted to their standard conservative and compact approach for the Chelsea tie. Possibly intended to knock off the opponent’s gameplay, that decision backfired spectacularly as the likes of strikers Joao Felix and Luis Suarez were cut off and Atleti horrendously failed to register a single shot on target.
Although restrained for much of the fixture by being heavily man-marked, Olivier Giroud succeeded in scoring a stunning overhead kick to give Chelsea their winning goal. The strike was initially ruled out for offside, but VAR was used to identify that Giroud had latched on to a ball off Mario Hermoso rather than one of his Chelsea teammates, therefore the goal stood.
Including Giroud, there were a number of standout performers for Chelsea, with the young Englishman Mason Mount and German striker Timo Werner both impressing for the Blues. Despite Atletico also getting half-chances, they failed to produce enough clear openings so that Edouard Mendy, in goal for the visitors, did not have to sweat much. Which is another plus for Tuchel’s defense.
Even if Chelsea were absolutely awful at the beginning of the game and could have easily found themselves a goal down within the first couple of minutes, their near absolute lack of generosity at the back since Tuchel’s arrival helped them survive the needless giving away of the ball in dangerous areas that they began the game with.
Unfortunately, Mason Mount and Jorginho will miss the second leg due to bookings picked up in this game but as the Blues managed to see out the game with their away goal advantage in tact, combined with their thriftiness in defense, they have a lot to hope for in the second home leg of the round of 16.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
