This return match between Real and Chelsea is not just a question of goals to catch up. It is also a question of dynamics. Because more worrying than the slap (1-3) received at Stamford Bridge in the first leg, at kick-off time, the Blues will be at the heart of poor form, although the 6-0 slammed in Southampton suggests Saturday. And this, when Madrid is in full swing.
That the task seems difficult for the men of Tuchel. Even if the German technician remobilizes the troops at a press conference. “I believe it. (…) We think we have the chance to get a good result. We never slowed down and we’re not going to start on Tuesday” he thundered. But what levers to activate to set the machine in motion and give the meeting a special atmosphere? That of the evenings of the Champions League where everything is possible.
Champions League
How King Benzema settled on the throne
5 HOURS AGO
For sale, will Chelsea once again become a club like the others?
The culture of Europe
The French public knows it only too well since the arrival of the Qataris in Paris, winning the Cup with big ears is not just a question of level of play, or experience. Because now Paris has both, but lacks European culture. The one that cannot be learned in training or bought during a transfer window, but is built over major matches and successful meetings.
At Chelsea, it is precisely the opposite. In the club’s recent history, each time the Blues have been beaten up on the first leg, they have turned the tide on the return. The last time against… PSG precisely. This small surplus of which knows not what which tips the scales in the right direction. On April 8, 2014, this was reflected in defensive solidity and the injury of Frank Lampard in the 66th minute, replaced by a Demba Ba who had no playing time under Mourinho and who ended up crucifying the Parisians at three minutes. of the term. First leg at the Park lost 3-1, return match at Stamford Bridge won 2-0, heading for the semi-finals.
FPF reform says: “Don’t go to the Super League, we’ll let you do what you want”
They discovered the recipe for this bad turn two years earlier, against Naples. After a 3-1 defeat in Neapolitan soil, the Londoners won 4-1 in the return. To find an elimination after a failed first leg on the European scene, you have to look for the beginnings of the Abramovich era with an elimination against Monaco in the half (3-1, 2-2). Tuchel is aware of this, coming up two goals at the Bernabeu, where Chelsea will travel for the first time in their history, is “almost impossible. But (Bernabeu) is also a stage where one can sublimate oneself“Becoming sublime for one evening, the only hope.
It will take a more physical match
To go up two goals on the outside, no secret, it will be necessary to put a crazy pressure. A plan that Tuchel already wanted to apply on the way out, but which had made pschit. “We are a team that needs this athletic dimension, entrusted the interested party. We didn’t manage to do it on the way out. It was also due to their quality and their ability to slow down the game, to control the game“completed the German.
Only those who have already won big – Chelsea have won two Champions Leagues in 2012 and 2021 – know how to put impact and madness into a match, without panicking themselves. And that’s part of the goal: “We didn’t work hard enough and intensively enough on the way out. (…) It will take a more physical game, it will be part of the solution“Revealed Tuchel.
‘Chelsea can be wiped off the map today’
For that he can capitalize on players capable of brilliant blows on Tuesday evening. Saturday, against Southampton, we first saw Kai Havertz confirm that he is in great shape. Then we watched Mason Mount score, and with him the goals are like ketchup, when it comes out everything comes suddenly. And finally a Timo Werner out of the closet touching the amounts three times and planting two goals.
It would be utopian to bet on the start of form of certain attacking players at the heart of a period when Chelsea have largesse behind. But there is also a bit of a miracle on the big nights. “We’ll need nothing less than a dream scenario if we’re going to be able to get through this.blew Tuchel. It’s sport, it’s a game and the beauty of this game is that anything is possible, always. (…) Maybe we’ll make our dream come true” he continued. Still, to get the half, you will not have to have your head in the clouds.
Champions League
Kanté, the unexpected concern
8 HOURS AGO
Champions League
Casemiro’s little bridge over Camavinga pleased Benzema: Real in training before Chelsea
10 HOURS AGO