In a Champions League tie that could be shown in cinemas around the world, Chelsea fell short to the Champions League kingpins Real Madrid.
In spite of the crushing defeat for Chelsea, the leading BT commentary team were quick to point out after 120 minutes how fearsome Thomas Tuchel’s side had been for large parts of the game.
Indeed, Chelsea fans took to social media to praise their manager after climbing to a 0-3 away lead at the Bernabeu, before Rodrygo’s surprise goal popped the blues’ dream.
Analysing this game from a tactical perspective, over 90 minutes plus extra time, is an almighty task. The tie ended 5-4 Madrid and felt every bit as chaotic as that scoreline suggests.
Beneath that though, Tuchel should feel vindicated in what he got right tonight. The German proved he has what it takes to take on the best teams and coaches in the world, with a side bouncing in and out of form while battling personal issues on the side.
79 minutes: What Chelsea got right
After sinking at the Bridge, Tuchel needed to mend his ship and properly prepare before going into battle in Spain.
The main takeaway from the first leg was that Madrid killed Chelsea through left wing, with Vinicius, Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema linking to exploit Andreas Christensen at RCB.
As we explored previously, they pulled Reece James away from the defence expertly, often using his instruction to press Mendy or Kroos to drag him deep into the Madrid third. In this game, Tuchel amended this perfectly, by bringing Ruben Loftus Cheek into RCM/RWB.
The differences can be seen simply in a heatmap comparison of Mendy and Vinicius. The 26-year-old followed Mendy, especially in the second half, which limited his ball touches.
For Chelsea’s disallowed goal, the move started after Mendy was caught in defence, the place where he’s not used to being when Madrid have the ball. Usually, the Frenchman is high and wide or further into midfield rather than in and around the CBs.
Loftus-Cheek made four tackles in the first 90 minutes, while his opposite Mendy was limited to just one dribble in the 77 minutes before being taken off. In comparison to the four he completed at Stamford Bridge, it shows Loftus-Cheek kept the danger at bay.
What this also did was put Reece James one-vs-one with Vinicius, a more able opponent than Christensen. That’s no slight on the Dane. Vinicius has 14 goals and seven assists in LaLiga, and eight goal contributions in the Champions League alone.
He’s an electric player, but he was limited by James to limited touches in the first 90 minutes at least.
James incredibly completed eight tackles in the first 90. For context, the highest average tackles per-90 in the Champions League in 21/22 is 4.6 (Rasmus Kristensen at from Salzburg in case you were wondering). Vinicius didn’t manage a single shot across the first 90 minutes, and the only chance he created came in extra time.
One difference between the two sides intriguingly came down to individual quality, but in the West Londoners favour. Both defences looked to step out and win the ball early, in a bid to stop the opposition getting too close to goal.
For Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger, this has been a main aim in their normal back three, but for large parts of the game they stood in a back two. Still, both defenders successfully prevented attacks time after time, trusting Ngolo Kante and Mateo Kovacic to cover the spaces behind them.
Meanwhile, Nacho following Marcos Alonso tightly but failing to win the ball, even as the left-back dribbled yards and yards back towards the halfway line, left the gap that Timo Werner exploited in Chelsea’s third goal. It’s a gap that wasn’t covered by Madrid’s nearest midfielder in Eduardo Camavinga.
Between the Chelsea CBs, they completed nine tackles and interceptions compared to David Alaba and Nacho’s eight. Considering the blues enjoyed the majority of possession throughout the game, that’s a light that shines brightly on Chelsea’s defensive capabilities.
80 mins onwards : Where it came crashing down
For a brief five minute after Timo Werner powered in Chelsea’s third goal, it seemed that they were heading to the Champions League semi-final. Credit to Carlo Ancelotti’s side though, because they kept calm and exploited the Chelsea gameplan.
For the goal from Rodrygo, who has quietly enjoyed a fruitful season in the Champions League, the space opened for him after Benzema lured Chelsea’s defenders out of the box.
It was smart play from the Frenchman, as he had been shut down by Thiago Silva throughout the game. He knew he would be followed, and it was a small but vital piece of positioning.
For the second, Vinicius came out of the periphery for the deciding moment to assist Benzema. His assist was delightful, and he took Thiago Silva out of the danger zone.
However, it was coincidentally the only time Reece James was caught out of position. Tuchel’s tactical plan to leave James effectively as a RCB worked right until he had been dragged out of that area, leaving the same scenario that wreaked havoc in the first leg.
This one Infairness, was more about a loss of possession from Chelsea rather than poor direction from the coaches. It was an unfortunate but ultimately deciding moment in this tie.
What have we learned?
It would be cruel to analyse Chelsea throughout the rest of extra time. Kai Havertz missed a guilt edge chance, Saul Niguez plastered a cross into Thibaut Courtois’ hands, while Jorginho seemed incessant on killing time for Madrid in the dying seconds.
Overall, though, Tuchel should be proud of what they did tonight. They took the soon-to-be LaLiga champions to the death in their own backyard, a place where teams like Liverpool, Bayern, Juventus, and PSG have crumbled beforehand.
It will be gut wrenching for Tuchel, but if he can help turn this result into a defining moment for a positive future, rather than the point where Chelsea football club began to fall apart under an already insanely tumultuous backdrop, then this could be a valuable experience for this still-young Chelsea side.
