Here are 4 things we learnt from Chelsea’s impressive performance to get UCL campaign back on track and give the blues a real chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
✓ Potter Showcases Tactical Class
With a visiting tactical genius in Stefano Pioli, many feared for the worse but Graham stood tall and wise as he outsmarted his Italian counterpart. In all of Potter games so far since becoming Chelsea boss, the Englishman had not played with three central defenders but the team selection consisting of Fofana, Koulibaly and Silva meant Potter had something up his sleeve.
With a player as dangerous as Rafael Leao playing off the left of Milan’s attack, Potter has both Fofana and James match up against the Portuguese sensation when defending and that helped to keep him quiet for most parts before the injury sustained by Fofana. The presence of Koulibaly also meant Silva had enough body around him to cover the channels helping to conserve his energy for the physical battle against Oli Giroud.
Potter further showed his tactical nous with the switch to a midfield diamond four with the introduction of Gallagher and Jorginho to further quench every fight of the Italians and douse momentum leading to a comfortable night for the blues after going three up.
✓ Set-Pieces a Huge Weapon :
Playing a traditional Italian team, it was shocking to watch on as Milan struggled to get a grasp on Thiago Silva who was left free on numerous occasions to get the first contact on set-pieces.
Silva had two headers on target from set-pieces when attacking and while defending, won one aerial duel.
With Milan adopting a zonal marking style from set-pieces, it was smart move from the coaching staff to have Silva wait on the edge of the box before making late runs to attack the balls.
Set-pieces on both ends remain huge weapons and both must continue to be fully exploited to Chelsea’s advantage.
✓ RLC Takes on Midfield Battle :
Having an established midfield trio of Kante, Jorginho and Kovaciç could mean a fourth midfield option becomes a mere rotational player but RLC has taken up the fight since given the opportunity under TT and now keeps taking it up a higher notch with impressive performances.
Here against Juve, RLC got partnered by Kovaciç and his physical presence in the middle of the park helped Chelsea win some big lumps up the pitch to find Giroud with RLC wining the two aerial duels he contested while wining one of his two tackles. RLC was most impressive in the way he shielded the ball under pressure with the former Fulham loanee wining 4 fouls while recording victory in 8 out of 14 ground duels.
RLC won the most duels in the match overall with 10 and most fouls with 4 to further showcase his importance to the present Chelsea team.
✓ Chilwell Getting Back to Form :
A player so immense to the Chelsea setup before his huge injury, it’s been taking weeks for Chilwell to get back to his usual self. Tonight, after a shaky start by the England international where he gave the ball away on numerous occasions with only 2 of his 6 long balls being accurate.
Chilwell came back out after the break with renewed energy and more of his form were replicated on the pitch with his pressing helping to win the ball back in Milan’s half before a nice one, two with Mount helping him dish out the cross over to the other side in the build up to Aubameyang’s goal for Chelsea’s second.
Chilwell won 7 of his 10 duels to further buttress his aggressiveness while his two successful dribbles our of two attempts shows his attacking outputs remain. With his fitness gradually returning, Chilwell will hope to keep up with this impressive form and keep his place in the team with Cucurella returning from illness.
It is worthy of note to remember Fofana who sustained what looked like a knee injury after his first Chelsea goal. We wish him the very best of recovery in no time.
Man of the Match; Reece James; 9/10
Next up, Chelsea face Wolves on Saturday in the premier league.
