The 2021/22 Premier League season is in full swing – Manchester City and Liverpool are in full swing, Manchester United, Arsenal, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves are in the final five, Brentford, Everton, Leeds United, Newcastle, Watford, Burnley and Norwich are relegated...
But this hot, all-inclusive scene does not seem to have much to do with Chelsea, who has just recently been crowned world champions. As the top giants of the Premier League, from the beginning of the season to the present world, this change is Buddha-nature.
Chelsea are currently in third place with 50 points in 1 game, and the point difference with the leader Manchester City is 13 points, which is 4 points more than the fourth Manchester United. After winning the Club World Cup, Chelsea quietly defeated Crystal Palace in the 26th round of the Premier League to win the London derby. But Striker Romelu Lukaku, who spent £97 million in the summer, set an embarrassing record in the match – just seven touches in the game, better than nothing.
As a result, the center-forward, who scored key goals in both the club world cup semi-final and the final, was once again pushed to the forefront. In the first match of the defending champions' Champions League knockout round, Lukaku sat on the bench unsurprisingly.
No surprise, the Blues won easily 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, giving them a huge psychological advantage in the second leg, with one foot already in the quarterfinals. But the game between the strongest group number two and the weakest group number one was not as easy as the score response, and Lille caused a lot of trouble for Chelsea on the pitch.
Chelsea is like a heavily armored cavalier, with the advantage of equipment to play steadily, while Lille is like a jianghu chivalrous, relying on flexible positioning to calmly cope. The two teams had a 5-on-5 ratio, a shot-to-goal ratio of 9-15, and a shooting-to-goal ratio of 4-on-2.
Tuchel's tactics are still based on stability, such a strategy, in the absence of Chilwell and Rees James, the blues' games often show two major characteristics: 1. it is difficult to lose the game; 2. the big score wins fewer games.
Havertz's explosive start after the opening gave the Blues a very desirable start, with a header from the German midfielder leaving Tuchel smiling in the coaching cabinet and the game early into the Blues' best rhythm.
Lille proved with his performance that although he only won the first place in the group of rookies pecking at each other, he deserved it. Trailing by the score, the Ligue 1 champions and champions champions have been in a five-and-5 situation, and if it were not for the lack of experience, Pulisic's counter-attack goals would not have appeared.
Let Kante break the ball and run all the way from the backcourt, rush to the front to send a comfortable diagonal pass, and Sheka, who has been chasing closely, did not choose to foul!
2 to 0! Six consecutive home wins in the Champions League! Scored 15 goals and didn't concede 1! That's the horror of the Blues! Although the Blues have no desire in the Premier League, they still have a lot to offer in this season's cup.
Premier League teams have remained strong in the Champions League this season, with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all keeping clean sheets and basically locking up places in the quarter-finals. Now the pressure is once again on Manchester United, away to the strong Atletico Madrid, if Manchester United can not win, will become the only Premier League team in the first leg can not win.
Although Atletico is Ronaldo's favorite opponent, Ronaldo has always been the opponent that Atletico most want to defeat, and this focus battle will definitely be a bitter battle.
The Blues won in a low-key manner, but the Red Devils became the focus, and football is so interesting.