Chelsea, exam to raise grade

ANDl Sánchez Pizjuán she dresses up tonight to celebrate his hundredth match in European competition. A duel in a whole Champions League in which the first place in group E will be at stake against a rival of the substance of Chelsea. The night has everything, except what makes it special Nervión Bombonera: the public (Follow the game live on As.com).

Nor do you have to calculate too much to seal the leadership of the group. If Sevilla win, it will be first. If he loses, it will be Chelsea. The simplicity of the accounts contrasts with the difficulty of beating Chelsea from Lampard. Even more so if one takes into account the losses accumulated by the Lopetegui. As in Huesca, we will have to experiment on a left side in which they will be low Escudero and Acuñto. It also does not recover in time Suso, while Bono and Carlos Fernández they are still waiting to test negative for COVID, to which are added the absences of Gnagnon and Aleix Vidal, who are not registered in the competition. But the thing does not stop there, since footballers like Ocampos or De Jong They drag annoyances that prevented them from training yesterday and that cause Lopetegui not to offer the call until the end of the training that is scheduled for this Wednesday morning.

Logically, reaching the first place in the group is a challenge that attracts, but it is a tree that does not hide the forest from what Sevilla has ahead of him, starting with the visit of Real Madrid next weekend. Lopetegui does not recover pieces but he does not want to lose anyone else, so tonight it will be the turn of players from the second unit who will have a height test to prove their validity.

At Chelsea, meanwhile, Lampard has practically all of his troop healthy, which however will not translate into presenting his eleven gala in Nervión. Nothing is further from reality. The British coach already announced in the press room that the match against Sevilla it is the ideal moment to give minutes to players who deserve it and rest others who arrive laden.

Therefore, the one that was designated as one of the star matches of the competition after the group draw will be, but with nuances. It is the result of both groups arriving with their homework done to something similar to an exam to raise grade