Chronicle Benzema, a lighthouse under the storm (1-1)
Tactical genius It rains to water your flower
Marcelo's worst night "We are all here to help"
The lawnmower Chelsea could not stand the 'Spanish rain'
Christian Pulisic
and
Mason Mount
are not yet 23 years old, but both can boast of a glorious Champions League presence. The American, author of the 0-1, and the Englishman, with a fabulous bunch of technical details, left their stamp on Valdebebas yesterday. Both end their contract in 2024, so
Marina Granovskaia
, Chelsea's executive director, must take their continuity in London very seriously.
Pulisic became the youngest Chelsea player to score in a Champions League semi-final yesterday. His was the decisive appearance after a great ball into space by
Antonio Rudiger
, another of
Thomas Tuchel's
best
assets
. The German's forcefulness was only matched by the indefatigable
N'Golo Kanté
, who seemed to control every square inch of the meadow. His deployment, along with
Jorginho
, was materialized in a revealing fact: both exceeded 11 kilometers, a ceiling far from reach for any white footballer.
«We started very, very well, with a lot of courage and quality.
We deserved to get ahead at half-time, but unfortunately they scored from set pieces ", analyzed Tuchel, who has already had five games without a defeat against
Zinedine Zidane
.
“We had to stay calm and not lose confidence.
The second half was very tactical, you could feel that we were a little tired, "continued the German, emphasizing the 48-hour recovery after the 0-1 Premier against West Ham.
"One more day of rest would have been good for us," confirmed the German coach.
Hell-bent on letting go
With or without fatigue, the fact is that Chelsea's vertigo ended up being reflected in a significant statistic. Their forwards finished 16 of their 23 dribbles, while those of Madrid could only overflow in five of nine. In fact,
Edouard Mendy
did not make a single stop.
Thibaut Courtois
faced 11 shots, five of them well aimed. So Tuchel's somewhat crooked gesture should be interpreted logically. “Only half of the tie has been completed, so in London we will have to fight for every inch. We must fight to deserve a pass to the final, "predicted the former Dortmund coach.
Fortunately, on another night under the downpour, the referee's role was reduced to anecdote.
Danny Makkelie
missed the first two kicks on Mount. And those infractions behind
Eder Militao
and
Nacho
could well deserve the yellow
. The Dutchman should have had no choice in
Vinicius's
sweep of
Pulisic. In fact, the only more or less admissible reproach towards the referee should focus on
Casemiro's
jump
against
César Azpilicueta
in the 1-1 action. Makkelie, determined to let go, was a privileged witness to a match with all the mystique of the European Cup.
Yes, in matters of heraldry, nothing like Madrid, which started with eight players -
Carvajal
,
Varane
, Nacho, Marcelo, Casemiro,
Kroos
,
Modric
and
Benzema
- who had already raised four Champions.
And the specific weight of the '9' is already recorded in the gold books of Madrid.
With 71 goals, Karim equals
Raúl's
historic record
in the Champions League, although ahead, still at a sidereal distance,
Cristiano Ronaldo
remains
.
In a more everyday context, Benzema has scored 13 goals in his last 14 games for white.
"We must be very careful"
As much as the average of his starting team was around thirty (29.5 years), Madrid's physical inferiority should not be attributed to age. Being deflected by Chelsea already seems the norm in this tournament. The dynamism of his attack front should have been reflected in a more resounding way on the scoreboard. Less common in this team is such a bad night from
Timo Werner
, a forward with too much quality to allow himself certain mediocrities. 11 goals in 44 games seem like meager baggage for his debut season in London.
Next Wednesday, everything will be decided at Stamford Bridge.
«We knew that a tie against Madrid is always going to be very tough.
So now we must be very careful, "anticipated Azpilicueta, with a speech almost traced to that of Tuchel.
"We started by pressing well and recovering a lot of balls, but we needed to better choose the last pass and the last detail," admitted the captain.
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