Perhaps Chelsea’s stunning 3-0 victory over Barcelona on Tuesday evening was a decisive declaration of this young London team’s ability to compete with Europe’s top clubs this season, despite its players’ lack of experience in such major events.
Chelsea has a young team with an average age of around 23 years, assembled by the club’s management over the past three years, with the departure of another group of players.
After two years of fluctuating performance and results, the London club is finally beginning to reap the rewards of its strategy, which, just a few months ago, was the subject of scathing criticism from fans.
On Tuesday evening, during the fifth round of the Champions League group stage, Chelsea players delivered an inspiring performance in front of a highly enthusiastic crowd at Stamford Bridge, and their coach, Enzo Maresca, gave a lesson in how to prepare for a tough opponent and delivered enjoyable attacking football over the past 16 months.
As for Barcelona, their main problem this season, which is their lack of a Plan B in case their primary plan fails, was evident, with the recognition that they paid a heavy price after the dismissal of their central defender, Ronald Araujo, in the first half.
The Twelfth Player
Chelsea benefited from the enthusiastic atmosphere created by their fans in the stands, where the atmosphere was so loud that it made it difficult for any opposing team to focus on their planned strategy.
Coach Maresca relied on the 4-2-3-1 formation, with Wesley Fofana partnering with Trevoh Chalobah in central defense, supported by full-backs Malo Gusto and Marc Cucurella.
Chelsea captain Reece James played in midfield alongside the outstanding holding midfielder Moises Caicedo, and Argentine Enzo Fernandez was positioned in the attacking midfield position (10), between wingers Estevao and Alejandro Garnacho, behind the false striker Pedro Neto, despite the availability of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap on the bench.
It was clear that Chelsea aimed to score an early goal, and their attacks were dangerous across both flanks, exploiting the players’ speed and the midfielders’ forward runs with quick ball exchanges, aiming to break Barcelona’s offside trap.
Fernandez shone particularly in the number 10 role, where his movements inside the penalty area were clever and precisely calculated, especially when the full-backs had the ball on either side of the pitch.
The individual skills of Brazilian Estevao on the right wing were exceptional, while Neto stood out with his tireless activity as a false striker moving to the flanks, taking advantage of his great speed, which contributed to creating spaces for his teammates in the attacking line.
When Araujo received his second yellow card in the 44th minute and left the field dismissed, Maresca realized that he could decide the match at the beginning of the second half, and the second goal came from Estevao, who displayed wonderful individual skill before shooting the ball into the net.
Maresca also changed the team’s attacking shape, by introducing a center forward, bringing on Delap instead of Garnacho, and moving Neto to the main winger position, especially in light of the decline in the performance of Barcelona’s full-backs, which quickly resulted in the third goal scored by Delap.
Dismissal Dilemma
In contrast, Barcelona coach Hans Flick relied on the 4-3-3 formation, with Araujo alongside Pau Cubarsi in central defense, supported by full-backs Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde, and Eric Garcia played the role of defensive midfielder, with support from Dutchman Frenkie de Jong, aiming to give freedom of movement to Fermin Lopez to move behind the attacking trio of Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, and Robert Lewandowski.
What Barcelona lacked most in this match was the humility of their attacking output, as Lewandowski fell into Chelsea’s defensive trap, after Chalobah imposed close surveillance on him, while Cucurella succeeded in limiting the danger of Yamal, who delivered a lackluster performance before being substituted in the second half.
In midfield, Barcelona lost the battle despite De Jong’s commitment to his position, and the defense was lost due to the chaos caused by Araujo’s positioning before his dismissal, and because of Cubarsi’s slowness in dealing with Chelsea’s quick breaks, and the failure of Kounde and Balde to provide the required attacking addition, noting that Kounde was remarkably random on the defensive side.
Relying on the advanced offside trap was understandable until Araujo’s dismissal, and the introduction of Andreas Christensen in the second half did not contribute to strengthening Barcelona’s defense, especially since Cubarsi was being easily bypassed.
The attacking changes did not succeed in light of the numerical disadvantage, and the Blaugrana realized that achieving a draw had become a pipe dream, especially when Delap scored the third goal, which was the knockout blow.
