All the keys to the defensive excellence of City and Chelsea

Manchester City and Chelsea are two coach-led squads who receive their highest praise for what their teams are capable of with the ball. For this reason, the enormous capacity demonstrated this season by both in working without the ball deserves special mention, an aspect that has undoubtedly allowed them to reach their respective places for this Champions League final. What do City and Chelsea do when they don't have the ball to get it back?

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola pointed out a few months ago, in a very interesting interview he gave to Rio Ferdinand, that one of the keys to redirecting an unsatisfactory start to the league was to convince the group again to “run like animals without the ball”. The energy that Manchester City has shown in the defensive phase from then until now has undoubtedly been one of the keys to the good progress in all competitions.

The combinatorial style of play and its development facilitates optimal positioning in the face of any loss in the opponent's court, thus activating a pressing after loss (Counter-press) immediate and extremely aggressive that allows them to quickly regain possessionn or, in the worst case, abort any attempt at a counterattack by the rival. Another aspect that has improved the City in a tangible way is the defense in their own field and in the area (Low Block). The arrival of an imperial Ruben Dias has been decisive in this improvement, implementing the performance of the entire defensive line and achieving unusual records in previous campaigns.

Chelsea

If something has characterized this Chelsea from Tuchel, it has been his extraordinary defensive performance. This is confirmed by the 18 gates to zero (clean sheets) in the 29 games led by the German. In spite of everything, this performance has worsened in the last five days (1.2 on average of goals conceded) coinciding with the loss of central defender Christensen and the absence of Kanté, which have led to changes that have not suited the team well on defense. They tend to start their defensive phase in high pressure (1-5-2-3 / 1-5-3-2), making the rival start very difficult and recovering a good number of balls in the opposite field and, if they are overcome or simply prefer to retreat close to your area, they make it in a low block (1-5-3-2) even more compact and airtight.

The structure of 3 centrals and 2 midfielders makes them prepared for any inopportune loss of the ball and the tremendous physical-tactical potential of the preferred players to occupy those demarcations. (Rudiger, Thiago Silva, Christensen + Jorginho, Kanté) makes them extremely effective. If the rival attacks are delayed, the wingers (Azpilicueta and Chilwell) and the young midfielder Mount will finish propping up the block in the defense of their area.