The upcoming Champions League quarter-final between Chelsea and Real Madrid is the highlight of this round. One is the champion of the last cup and the most successful gold dollar in recent years; the other is the well-deserved king of this event, which is on the road to "Galaxy Battleship 3.0", and the confrontation between each other will naturally attract the attention of thousands of fans. For the Blues, the recent development is not very favorable, they have encountered too many off-court factors, and the team can only give back the support of the fans if they come up with good results. This time at home, what can they do to defend the glory of Stamford Bridge? In the last round of the knockout round, Benzema defeated Paris, can he continue to be brave against the Blues this time?
Season status review: No league pressure, the goal is more than that
Chelsea, the Blues, who play at home, don't have much to worry about in the remaining Premier League. The 10+ point difference with the teams in front of them, Manchester City and Liverpool, is doomed to lose the Premier League trophy this season, and the four teams behind them seem to have a certain distance from themselves, looking "relatively safe". Therefore, as the defending champions of the Champions League, they are devoted to the "great cause of defending the title", which is indeed the right direction. At the press conference, Tuchel also represented the whole team and sent a signal to the outside world. In terms of recent play, the loss to Brentford is indeed upset, but overall the Blues are still in good shape recently. With 7 wins and 6 wins, they are full of confidence.
In this season's Champions League play, the Blues have basically played a defending level. In the group stage they went all the way, but in the final round there was some "carelessness" before they "ceded" the first place in Group H to Juventus. In the first leg of the knockout round against Lille, their 2-0 (home), 2-1 (away) was easy to write, and did not give their opponents much chance to advance to the next round. The Blues, who were looking forward to continuing their ambitions this season, are now experiencing many of the difficulties they encounter from outside the pitch, which is really regrettable. However, this may add a different kind of "buff" to them; after all, this team has always been known for its iron blood, and the cup also attaches great importance to willpower and cohesion.
Real Madrid are similar to the Blues, basically carefree in their own leagues, but they are better, they are the "top big brother" and 12 points ahead of the second place, and it is only a matter of time before they win the trophy. Real Madrid have played brilliantly on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, scoring 61 goals in La Liga first and conceding 26 goals in La Liga second, which is enough to prove their strength. Benzema's 24+11 goalscorer's double-double finish in assists is surprising, and he is a true hero of the Bernabeu this season. Of course, with his help, the growth of the young players in the team is also gratifying. For example, the much-praised Vinicius.
In the Champions League, Real Madrid's road to promotion began with a bumpy start, and they also lost to Sharif in the group stage, and encountered a lot of criticism from the outside world. Fortunately, the experienced An Shuai led the team to adjust in time, turn to success, and successfully advanced. In the unfavorable situation of falling behind 0-2 in the knockout round, it was Benzema who stepped forward again, and his hat-trick left his elder brother Mbappe dumbfounded. After the victory over Paris, they made it to the round. Although they don't have as high odds as the popular teams, no one on this track dares to take them lightly. The 13 championship trophies embroidered on the arms are endless glory.
Historical memories of engagement: Last season, the Blues reached the top, and it was to step on Real Madrid
Since Abramovich entered the Blue Bridge, the Blues have rapidly transformed into the entire European football world, the top team that cannot be ignored, and they have also won the Champions League twice in 2012 and 2021, writing an extremely successful golden dollar football myth. After Chelsea got stronger, they and Real Madrid began to meet on various stages, and since 2013 the two sides have played a total of 4 games, Chelsea won 1, drew 1 and lost 2, scoring 6 goals and conceding 7 goals.
The most recent meeting between the two sides took place last season, when Real Madrid were an important blocker on Chelsea's way to the title, but Tuchel still led the team to break through to the final, with a 2-0 (home), 1-1 (away) result to ensure that they can go further. Goals from Werner and Mount were particularly crucial in the second leg, and they let Real Madrid eat goodbye. Time has passed, and Tuchel is still the best leader of the Blue Bridge, but Real Madrid has returned to Ancelotti's command. This meeting will be the first match between the two famous coaches.
However, Tuchel has a very rich "anti-royal experience", according to media statistics, he led the team to challenge Real Madrid 6 times in his career, but he did not lose, playing 2 wins and 4 draws. Moreover, Real Madrid are not too good at playing against Premier League teams, and the last time they won the Premier League in the knockout rounds, it goes back to the 2014/15 season. However, the manager at the time was also Fat, and they beat Liverpool. The next 5 encounters with Premier League teams were all inky. This statistic is really not very favorable to An Shuai's team.
Match Highlight 1: The problem of the end of the front line is in place, will Tuchel change his moves
1.1- Lukaku, is it used or not?
After consulting with the top brass in the last summer window, Tuchel spent a lot of money to buy Lukaku, a striker who played very well at Inter Milan, in order to solve the team's weak forward finishing ability. Unexpectedly, after the Belgian "returned home", he not only failed to continue to play well in Italy, but also was "biased" by Werner and others who had also been pinned high hopes before, and lost the ability to score goals. As of today, in the 25 Premier League + Champions League matches in which he has participated, Lukaku has only scored seven goals, which is too far from what people expected.
This not only led to a decline in his own value, but also caused problems in the operation of the team system that Tuchel expected. Under the constraint of the continuous problem of frontal weakness, their side speed advantage, the smoothness of the midfield advancement, and the cooperation problems of the newcomers in the front have been exposed, and they have encountered the dilemma of not being able to break through the gate for a long time during the season. At that time, many people began to point fingers at Lukaku, and he himself was under great pressure. Unpleasantness between each other is naturally inevitable.
Tuchel, who was anxious in his eyes, also knew that this problem had to be solved, so he proposed many strategies for improvement. Until recently, he has been experimenting, such as trying to play four against Tottenham, the different attacking attributes brought about by the rotation of Havlets in the center position and Lukaku, and activating the youth storm combinations such as Pulisic Mason Havt Haftz to release vitality. This time against Real Madrid, I wonder what "new performance" Tuchel will have? Whether to use Lukaku or not, this is also a problem?
Strange 4-2-2-2
1.2- Youth Vitality Combination Reliable
Last season's 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of last season's knockout round is a good example. At that time, manager Zidane came up with a similar system to the Blues, discharging three defenders to meet the game. This move just hit Tuchel's arrangement, he was very brave to take the werner + Mount + Havertz combination full of vitality, the three of them on the flank impact to real Madrid brought huge defensive pressure. After losing the sense of layering, the stability advantage of the Real Madrid squad is no longer there, and Chelsea's several high-pitched high-pitched hits, and the rotational assaults on the left and right roads have played an effect. It was only a matter of time before the goal was conceded, and the two goals were also very exciting.
In a hurry, Real Madrid's entire defensive system collapsed
It was also this problem that led to the loss of goals
1.3 - Ancelotti sees the trick
Today, Ancelotti will not be deployed like Zidane, he is more conservative and stable, and he will see Tuchel's tactical arrangement more clearly and thoroughly. This tests Tuchel's personal ability to deploy, how should he design a weak front? The fiasco defeat for Brentford must have upset him, with a couple of strikers scoring 21 goals on goal but scoring just one goal, which is really inefficient. Is it like coming up with a new squad last season or continuing to play in the Premier League? That's a problem.
Match highlight 2: Fight with Real Madrid in the later stages, which is basically equivalent to losing
In this season and even in recent seasons, Real Madrid has indeed seen many examples of flipping through the second half of the game, especially in the Champions League, where their experience and ability to read the game after 60 minutes are unmatched by other teams. This is also the "capital" they have accumulated over the years. Therefore, no matter what the opponent is, fighting with Real Madrid in the later stage is definitely the wrong choice. Tuchel should lead the team to establish the advantage as early as possible to avoid the arrival of this "dangerous time".
According to statistics, Real Madrid has scored 17 Champions League goals this season, 12 of which came from the second half, and the probability of scoring after 60 minutes is more than 50%. Chelsea, on the other hand, conceded all the goals conceded in the second half after 75 minutes, and this comparison is indeed too obvious.
Paris is the new "victim". Mbappe's early goal in the second leg gave their team endless hope, and the sight of eliminating Real Madrid in the next round and even winning the trophy seems to be in front of them. Who knew that after 60 minutes, the bad Galaxy battleship was back. In just 15 minutes, Benzema scored three valuable goals, giving the Frenchman the advantage he had accumulated. They probably haven't tasted it back until the end of the game. Of course, Inter Milan were also victims in the group stage, and they deeply realized how good Real Madrid were at the end of the game.
This is the benefit of accumulating a tacit understanding of the system and sufficient stability, in the three seasons where the world's top midfielders still maintain their combat effectiveness, they can quickly create good opportunities through tacit communication and running, moving, and pulling edges without the ball. Then through the impact of teammates to pull the space, take away the defenders, to create opportunities for Benzema.
Although the Frenchman has increased in age this season, he has not regressed in the slightest, and he is indeed too strong in terms of opportunities and shooting ability. The number of goals scored, the average number of shots on goal, the number of assists, the number of excellent opportunities created, the average number of key passes per game, the success rate of the forward pass, the personal score are all ranked first in La Liga, and the Champions League has also scored 8 goals, the data is really beautiful.
Under his leadership, the little brother around him can also stand up at a critical moment and solve difficulties for him. This season, the 21-year-old Vinicius not only improved rapidly, but also made many achievements to the team after playing 2/3 of the game, which is the demonstration of "team spirit" and the main reason why Real Madrid is not good after 60 minutes.
As the defending champions, The Blues Chelsea certainly have strategies to deal with, and Kante is an important link. In their elimination of Real Madrid in the second leg last season, the Frenchman's restrictions on Kroos were perfect, making it difficult for Tony to play the ball and the pressure to move forward increased dramatically. This greatly reduces the rate of real madrid's attack and defense conversion, and the integrity is dismantled without efficient cooperation. However, objectively speaking, Kante has not played very well recently (the rating in the last 10 games has been below 7.0 five times), and he needs to improve his focus on the game and maintain his attention from 0-90 minutes in the match with Real Madrid, just like he did last year.
Match Highlight 3: The Pros and Cons of High Pressing
For Real Madrid and Chelsea, this round of confrontation will encounter the same problem, that is, can it be pressed to the high position? Tuchel's answer may be more affirmative, after all, in the Premier League's environmental system, they adapt to such a rapid rhythm and have a deeper understanding of physical confrontation and pressure to play the ball. Real Madrid, on the other hand, may need to really think about it, and different arrangements may bring very different results. Blind arrangement and coercion may be counterproductive.
3.1 - The national derby rushed to grab the effect is not good
In the national derby, Ancelotti's pressing tactics did not seem to work, and Tony Kroos almost played the worst performance of the season, and his multiple holes came from the disconnect between the front and back. Real Madrid have invested a lot of manpower in the front, but it is difficult to limit the forward movement of Dembele and F-Torres. A few passes can pass, resulting in the direct exposure of the Real Madrid midfield back, and the central defender also easily lost the barrier protection. A 0-4 defeat is enough to learn a lesson.
Barca's attacking combination hot zone map occupies a lot of space, and it can be seen that their position is very certain, and Real Madrid can not stop it
Barca counterattacked very sharply, and the ineffective pressure test of Real Madrid led to the opening of the door
In addition, due to the aging of the squad, Real Madrid is sometimes unable to play back after conceding goals. If the pressing tactic loses its effect, then the connection with the next arrangement will most likely cause problems. While Chelsea had problems finishing, they couldn't give them too many chances. Especially if Tuchel dares to take the young general and violently attack.
3.2 - The Blues also have a good strategy to crack the forcing
For the Blues, due to the lack of a reasonable and reliable end point, Tuchel also encouraged his frontcourt players to seek opportunities for retreat, and also to provide enough support and help to their teammates in the middle. For example, in the second leg of VS Lille, the combination of Pulisic, Ziyech and Havertz has frequently withdrawn to cooperate with each other. This led to the failure of Lille's sudden launch of the rush in part of the time period, and the Blues players could easily combine the ground to pass the crack without any pressure. This is also a point that Real Madrid needs to consider.
In addition, although the Blues' midfield is lacking in creativity, it is unambiguous to press the rush, and Kante brings Jorginho crazy interception, which will also make Real Madrid's mid-road ball into a choice problem. The ball does not come to Benzema's feet, and the overall efficiency will naturally be reduced. Under the decomposition of the advantages and disadvantages, the different attitudes towards high-level pressing do have a great impact.
3.3 - Real Madrid can also have their own magic tricks
For Real Madrid, the pressing strategy can be appropriately combined with purposeful staring and can be used in a relatively narrow range. The non-parallel positioning of Kante and Jorginho is a characteristic of the Blues' tactics (Kante is in the front and leads, Jorginho is behind to help and protect), in such a situation, the return of Mount and Havertz is very important, only in this way can the requirements of regional transposition be met. In this regard, Real Madrid can arrange for someone to pinch each other's passing ball contact, so that Chelsea will throw the problem to Tuchel.
epilogue
The blues' match with Real Madrid is touching, whether it is the distressed Chelsea who is in trouble and continues to stage an iron-blooded legend, or the Champions League hegemon Real Madrid's revenge and understanding of last season's grievances, it is worth paying attention to. In addition, the two famous coaches of Tuchel and Ancelotti are also the focus of the game, and the grasp of the offensive combination, the arrangement of the high position, and the design of the middle road will be the fundamental decision of the outcome of this game. Strategizing and winning thousands of miles is also the charm of football. Come on
(Li Qian)
![Chelsea's grand ambitions collapsed due to the departure of one person, and it was difficult to catch up with Manchester City's Red Army in the summer window[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)