Us Chelsea fans have been treated to a magical night in the Champions League this week. It’s been a long time coming and hopefully we have a few more to look forward to.
We have also seen a tonal shift in this Chelsea squad. They finally seem to be playing like a team, Thomas Tuchel may have finally got this group of players together. Here’s to looking at some of the evidence our game against Atletico Madrid provided.
For me, the win against Atletico Madrid is a huge moment for this current Chelsea team. It’s easy to say ‘they didn’t go for it’ just like the Spurs game in February. To that I say, you can only beat what’s in front of you.
As with the Spurs game, that was a derby match on their home turf, it was still a huge game and we still had to go and beat them, which we duly did.
Atletico were much the same in the way that they looked to get us on the counter attack. I personally don’t think Atletico were bad, I think Chelsea were really good. Atletico are top of their league which albeit a league in slow decline, is no mean feat.
They have Luis Suarez playing for them up front who needs no introduction and has still been scoring a hatful of goals in Spain. They have one of the biggest up and coming prospects in Joao Felix too.
Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger completely nullified these two highly prolific strikers. The first ten minutes was a bit of a wobble but nonetheless, the team soon settled.
The midfield of Matteo Kovacic, Jorginho and Mason Mount was also fantastic at tracking and stopping Atletico’s midfield from creating anything.
Mount was in my opinion our best player, his attacking play was phenomenal. He went on two or three runs during the game that were Hazard-esque.
I also noticed he was dropping back into the midfield and even onto the wings at points during the game. As Jorginho is the link between our defence and midfield, Mount is our link between the midfield and the forwards.
Oliver Giroud and Timo Werner I thought worked really well upfront too. I’ve said many times now Timo just needs to get firing and he’ll be well worth the money we’ve paid for him. Stay positive guys! Giroud however, proved exactly why he’s still France’s main striker and why we can’t sell him.
I was becoming increasingly frustrated during the game that we weren’t utilising what Giroud’s good at, holding the ball up and bringing the rest of the team into the game. As if to prove me wrong he then went and scored one of the greatest goals Chelsea have ever scored in European competition.
VAR did kind of destroy the celebration, but Chelsea’s Instagram account has since released footage of the players from various angles running to celebrate with Giroud once the goal was confirmed.
Furthering my points, I think Tommy T has really got us playing as a team again. Everyone is pulling a weight in equal measure and I don’t think it’s a fluke that we made Atletico look rather average.
I honestly think the back three against Madrid played fantastically in unison. Our midfield isn’t over committing and we finally seem to have found a happy medium in which the players link well with each other to create a harmonious midfield. I also thought the celebrations between the players for Giroud’s goal was testament to this.
It will be a huge miss in the second leg to not have Mount or Jorginho (stop cheering Chidge) but I actually think that missing these players in some way could actually benefit Chelsea.
Kai Havertz and N’Golo Kante will surely play, Kante we know will do a fantastic job regarding he doesn’t give it away constantly like he did against Southampton. This could be the big game that ignites Havertz’s season. I felt he had a great game against Wolves and it was a shame that he then got injured again. I’m confident that we’ll go through, I’m also confident that unless we draw Bayern Munich we could get a place in the semi-finals.
At the time of writing it is the night before the Manchester United game at Stamford Bridge. If we win, it’s my favourite game of our season any season. However if we lose, I am disappointed for weeks as I have now lost bragging rights with my friends. I honestly don’t know what to say about this game, they look terrible but seem to be in second place, and yet we’ve beaten them once in three years.
I’m hoping Tommy T can break that baron run and finally put a few in the United net.
Up The Chels!
