Chelsea hesitates: original formula without Lukaku

At the dawn of the storm, doubts return to Chelsea. Thomas Tuchel’s side lost a dramatic 1-4 loss to Brentford last Saturday at Stamford Bridge. An unexpected result for blues that until then they had chained 15 games without losing, but that they have been definitively out of the race for the Premier League, 14 points below the leader, which is Guardiola’s Manchester City; already 13 behind his closest rival, Klopp’s Liverpool. So that, the only way for Chelsea is the Champions League. The tournament from which they emerged victorious last season and which in this edition has brought them up against Real Madrid, who will play in London next Wednesday. Although the white team has never beaten the bluesTuchel knows that it is the biggest challenge of the season, and that is why, after the defeat against Brentford, he inflamed his fans: “In the first half I felt that it was a friendly match, we need a better atmosphere against Madrid”.

The German coach has become in recent weeks the beacon of the club, which is going through one of the worst moments in its history. The sanction against Roman Abramovich, the freezing of Chelsea’s accounts and the controversial sale process of the entity had apparently not affected the sporting performance of Tuchel’s team, which had overcome the bad news with six consecutive victories since the announcement of the aforementioned sanction, but on Saturday he rediscovered his worst evils…

Chelsea came out with an unusual scheme made up of two central defenders and two full-backs in defense, and ended up beaten. The 4-3-3 system did not convince the fans blues, accustomed to the classic 3-4-3, with three central defenders and two lanes, with which the team concedes less and has more freshness in attack. But Tuchel rejected it and opted for players with little weight in his elevens this season such as Loftus-Cheek or Werner. “We weren’t even 1% aware of Real Madrid to make the line-up,” replied the coach after the match.

However, the rotations did not finish having an effect and the original formula has ended up being reinforced. A proposal in which Christensen, Thiago Silva and Rüdiger protect the Mendy area; Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso occupy the bands; Kanté and Kovacic move the team from midfield; and the American Pulisic together with the Moroccan Ziyech are Havertz’s squires in the attack trident. That’s how Chelsea came out in the first leg of the round of 16 against Lille and that’s how it could come out against Real Madrid.

Only Reece James and Mount could suggest some variation in the eleven, in which Jorginho starts with a disadvantage due to Kovacic’s good season and in which Lukaku has lost his place. The Belgian striker was Chelsea’s great signing for this campaign, but since he recognized that he wanted to return to Inter at the end of 2021, his performance has plummeted and Tuchel has sent him to the bench. Kai Havertz, one of the players sought after by Madrid in the summer of 2020, is the spearhead of a Chelsea that will wait for Real Madrid to fall back and will seek to hurt them in offensive transitions, as they did last year with much success.