ZIYECH ZAPS ATLETICO!
Chelsea glide into last eight as Hakim & Co repay the faith
THIS could be another one of those years. Another of those seasons that infuriates the European elite, the powerful who resent the success of English football.
Three of the Champions League quarter- finalists are English. Germany have two, no other country more than one and Italy none at all. This is what is discussed when plans are hatched to disrupt the English game.
The competition, of course, gets considerably harder from here but the ease with which Liverpool, Manchester City and now Chelsea have progressed to the last eight again makes English clubs the force to be reckoned with in Europe.
As they were in 2007-08, when no foreign team eliminated an English opponent; as they were in 2018-19, which saw two all-English finals.
This was impressive stuff. Not just because Chelsea again won under Thomas Tuchel without conceding, but due to the quality of the opposition.
Atletico Madrid are La Liga’s leaders. They are cussed and awkward in Europe, conquerors of Liverpool at Anfield last season.
They know how to make it difficult, how to frustrate, how to win. By the end, here, they were in disarray. Stefan Savic was shown a straight red card for a sneaky elbow in the ribs, Luis Suarez was hauled off before the hour.
And Chelsea scored on the break, deep in injury time, to underline their superiority. The aggregate score was an emphatic 3-0 and it was no more than Chelsea deserved. The day the draw was made, elimination was almost presumed. Chelsea changed manager, in part, to make it less of a certainty. Tuchel delivered.
This was arguably a more impressive victory than the first leg. Although Atletico were technically at home, the venue last time was in neutral Bucharest.
Yet Stamford Bridge was empty too and Atletico arrived knowing precisely what they had to do. Yet they couldn’t do it. Couldn’t find a way through, couldn’t even muster a shot for long periods. And that was with Chelsea missing Jorginho and Mason Mount through suspension, two of their most influential midfielders. To construct this victory without them was impressive.
So Tuchel is still unbeaten and it could turn out to be quite the season for Chelsea.
Tuchel has them tight, and disciplined, and merely needs to add goals in greater quantity.
Chelsea have a lively forward line now, but not a prolific one, and last night illustrated that.
They could have put this tie away early in the second half but were never truly allowed to feel safe, even when Atletico needed two goals in five extra time minutes.
Yet as if to underline Chelsea’s command, instead they doubled their lead. Emerson had only been on a minute but he finished another counter-attack started by a break from fellow substitute Christian Pulisic.
They sped the length of the field as an Atletico move again broke down and the full back’s finish gave goalkeeper Jan Oblak no chance.
As for the first goal, it smelled of money. Specifically of the many millions Chelsea invested on forwards last summer. They were all involved: Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech. And Tuchel, of course. The manager charged with finding a way to make this triumvirate work in a way Frank Lampard could not. To here, his brief time at the club has been a triumph of defensive strategizing. He still hasn’t conceded a goal at home or in 11 of his 13 matches.
Equally, Chelsea have a penchant for 1-0 victories that would make George Graham proud. Yet, with their first goal, we got a glimpse of what Chelsea’s recruiters, and the man who finances them, envisaged when they spent
big. And maybe Lampard would have got there eventually with Werner, Havertz and Ziyech, too — but eventually is not a word recognised at Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea. No manager gets anywhere eventually.
The goal that left Atletico with an uphill trudge to oblivion actually came from one of their free-kicks.
Given how Diego Simeone’s teams often play in Europe, there was a delicious irony in seeing them struck so masterfully on the counter-attack.
It was Werner who made the initial clearance, recovering and speeding upfield in time to be put in by Havertz who led the break.
Atletico were utterly exposed when Werner crossed to Ziyech at the far post. His finish was hardly the greatest - straight at Oblak, but he was struggling to get set, too, and the ball passed awkwardly under his body.
It was no more than Chelsea deserved, either. They had dominated possession and showed no signs of merely wishing to defend their first-leg lead.
They rode their luck too. Referee Daniele Orsato, having ignored quite a forceful barge from Antonio Rudiger on Suarez — not a penalty, but certainly a gamble by Rudiger given Suarez’s experience in these matters — then waved away a very worthwhile appeal that could have given Atletico the lead.
It came in the 26th minute — so before Chelsea scored — and didn’t even get referred to VAR.
Suarez was in the middle of complaining that Rudiger had trod on his foot after an aerial battle, when the ball came loose in front of him.
Making a recovery that will have astonished leading members of the medical profession, he returned to full fitness and played arguably the pass of the night. Cesar Azpilicueta got there before Yannick Carrasco, just, but was at full stretch and underhit his back pass to goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. He compensated by giving Carrasco a little tug back.
It looked like a penalty but Orsato waved play on.
Soon, Chelsea were 2-0 ahead and safe. Atletico looked increasingly deflated and their frustrations boiled over. Savic went off for a pre-meditated attack on Rudiger, a further four players were booked. Chelsea avoided trouble and will be at full strength for their first quarter-final. It was the sort of job Atletico often do in Europe.