Enzo Maresca led his injury-inflicted Blues to Danish side, Copenhagen tonight in search of Chelsea’s seventh straight win in Europe this season, a first time feat for the club.
Forced to field an attack consisting 17-year old academy striker Shim Mheuka and a midfielder in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on the wings due to the absence of first choices (Jackson and Guiu), it was no surprise to see the Blues offer no threat in the first half of the tie.
Mustering only just 0.06 xG (expected goals) in the first half, Copenhagen’s defence looked pretty comfortable as Chelsea knocked the ball around with no penetration.
The team’s static positions and no fluid movements off the ball from the attackers to disrupt the Copenhagen mid-low block left the game in a lull for a long period.
Recognising the Blues possessed no threats in behind, Jacob Neestrup’s men were comfortable with Chelsea’s defensive trio having most of the possession with no penetration.
Lacking pace and directness on the flanks in the absence of injured Noni Madueke and a rested Pedro Neto, Enzo Maresca’s men looked to find loopholes in Copenhagen’s 5-4-1 stubborn low-block.
A mis-marsh of profiles (too many ball-to-feet players) made it even more difficult for the blues to offer any attacking threat as all the attacking actions were before the Copenhagen defence and nothing threatening in behind.
Palmer’s ignorance of Tyrique George on the right flank left many onlookers frustrated as the former City man preferred to cut in onto his left and find options in a crowded midfield area, resulting to a couple of turnovers.
Maresca must improve the fluidity to the side against teams who sit in a bank of five, it can’t always be down to individual brilliance, we need to see more drilled patterns.
Considering how the game ended in an edge-of-the seat fashion after Chelsea conceded from a cross again, he now has his hands tied heading into the second leg next Thursday and must field a strong eleven1 to proceed to the quarter-final round of the competition.
