Chelsea lost 1-3 to Real Madrid tonight in a game that was done and dusted barely halfway through the 90 minutes after a heroic performance by Karim Benzema.
The Frenchman’s hattrick was an example of how a world class striker can bury his chances with punishing ruthlessness. It’s the type of performance blues fans haven’t seen since Diego Costa terrified defences throughout the continent.
However, the buildup that enabled Madrid to create their chances stemmed from a well-executed gameplan from Carlo Ancelotti and one that Chelsea, and Thomas Tuchel, took too long to adapt to.
The first goal will probably only be remembered for that stunning headed finish from Benzema, but it’s the troublesome Chelsea right hand side where it begins
Vinicius Junior was allowed to go one-vs-one with Andreas Christensen constantly throughout the first half. It’s this scenario which gives the Brazilian the time to play a pass to Benzema and launch the attack leading to the goal, something which Tuchel admitted he got wrong after the game.
Ancelotti clearly understood Chelsea wanted to pin the Spanish side under pressure, and Madrid manipulated the space to create potential counter attacks. It was tactical brilliance, something that wasn’t expected by a Madrid side who fell recently in El Classico.
Reece James was forced into a positional horror show by los Blancos. He had been tasked to follow Ferland Mendy and Toni Kroos tightly out of possession, but both these players started wide before drifting deep inside. It dragged James out of position, allowing Vinicius to get space down the left wing.
The statistics in the early stages reflected how Madrid manipulated Chelsea. Inside the first 30 minutes, despite being put under a heavy press, Madrid edged possession with 53% of the ball according to WhoScored.
At half time, Madrid’s XG according to Fotmob stood at 1.02 compared to 0.45 from Tuchel’s team. It became apparent by the first goal that Madrid were outplaying the blues, yet there was no early change.
Chelsea clearly lost confidence too, and in the second goal you can see the hesitation in whether to press tightly or give Madrid space. Rudiger makes a dart towards Modric but quickly abandons it, only leaving space behind him in the defensive line.
It could be argued that lack of confidence translated into the second half, or at least it did for Edouard Mendy. His costly mistake leading to the third goal wasn’t the last time in the game the Senegalese looked shaky.
It’s worth saying too that Mendy’s form has slightly dipped in 2022, at least compared to the imperious form he showcased in the first quarter of the season. PSXG (post shot expected goals), the measure of shot accuracy, suggests that Mendy has been conceding more goals than he would be expected to of late.
The switch to a back four though did drastically improve Chelsea’s press and protect their defence. Moving Reece James to the more structured role of right back avoided the issues from the first half, and Chelsea held over 64% of the ball in the second half.
Again though, Chelsea were too blunt in attack to create anything too dangerous. With eleven shots on goal in the second 45, they should have scored at least one.
It’s more poignant though, to focus on Romelu Lukaku and the direct comparison to his opposite number nine. Of course, the Belgian only played for thirty minutes, but the difference between the pair even if we limit Benzema to the same timeframe is staggering.
Below is a chart showing the touches Benzema and Lukaku had after the 65th minute. The two mind-blowing things to consider here are that 1. Real Madrid had 33% possession in this timeframe and 2. Benzema was subbed off in the 86th minute, meaning he played 10 minutes less than Lukaku.
While the 34-year-old Madrid striker dropped across the pitch to retain possession and give his team options, the 28-year-old blue was mostly absent.
Of course, two of his four touches were Chelsea’s clearest chances in the game, the two headers that sailed wide. Benzema was the striker Chelsea wanted, but this version of Lukaku is the one they are stuck with.
He, like Chelsea, only have a week to make sure they get things right at the Bernabeu. Tuchel simply cannot afford to have another half like the first half of today’s game, Chelsea will be out of the Champions League unless they score a minimum of 2 goals without reply, it seems a tall task, but an early goal in the first 20 minutes like Benzema delivered today, and who knows?
