UCL, Chelsea vs Juventus: The second-half strike from Federico Chiesa secured a 1-0 win over the defending champions, Chelsea. Juventus ends Chelsea’s 12 unbeaten group stage matches.
Three at the back is certainly not working for Chelsea as Man City also found a win. Chelsea again started a very similar formation to what they started against City in a recent Premier League encounter. While Juventus were equipped with a standard 4-3-3 set up.
Thomas Tuchel on Juventus defense. “I think it’s very difficult to find rhythm against a team that defends so deep, it was completely the other way around in the Manchester City game.”
Chelsea’s defense and midfield were seen slightly sluggish which opened a lot of opportunities for Juventus. The goal from Chiesa was also the result of an asleep defense from Chelsea.
Chelsea’s offensive sharpness has also degraded a lot from some previous encounters. From 18 shots Chelsea attack tried only one could find its target from Romelu Lukaku at the start from Marcos Alonso’s corner.
The best opening for the home side came for Chiesa, with the forward expertly turning Antonio Rudiger and bursting into the box before dragging a shot wide of Edouard Mendy’s far post.
Chelsea had the majority of the possession and also a 90% pass accuracy because of the deep defending of the Juventus backline as Tuchel mentioned after the match.
Just after halftime, Juventus capitalized on a well-made run from Bernardeschi who found Federico Chiesa in the left-inside channel. The Italian takes the strike the first time on his left foot into the top-left corner giving Mendy no chance at all.
Two opportunities opened for Chelsea to equalise. First for Romelu Lukaku whose shot was over after turning Leonardo Bonucci. The second opportunity came in the stoppage time after 90 minutes when Kai Havertz was fed a great ball from the right corner by Ben Chilwell. Havertz attacks with a run but he can only plant his effort over the bar.
Watch the UCL highlights of Chelsea vs Juventus, here.
Thomas Tuchel after the Chelsea vs Juventus.
“The big difference was that we gave big mistakes away that cost us confidence. Early today I could tell it was different. We were not as fresh mentally as we were in training yesterday. I don’t know why.”
Tuchel’s team did not have a single attempt on target against City at the weekend, but the German insisted he is not worried by their lack of attacking threat.
“We were lacking runs, we were struggling to find our rhythm and to keep the belief structure,” Tuchel added.
“Maybe it is a shooting problem, because if you don’t shoot then you don’t score. But if you play against a team that sits so deep like today it is hard to take shots. We will learn.”
Pingback: World Cup Qualifiers Germany first to qualify. - The Sports Habit
Pingback: Man United faces a daggering 4-2 loss against Leicester. - The Sports Habit
Pingback: Chelsea match for today: Brentford close to hold Chelsea in a 1-0 loss. - The Sports Habit