How Chelsea can beat Real Madrid and make the Champions League final
Chelsea face the might of Real Madrid in the last four of the Champions League having beaten Porto over two legs in the quarter-finals.
Victory over the Spanish giants would take the west Londoners to their third final. But it won’t be easy. As shown in their 3-1 aggregate win against Liverpool in the last eight, Real will be tough to beat.
Here’s how Thomas Tuchel’s team can ignore reputations and knock out the European heavyweights to make it to the final in Istanbul.
Attack their right flank
The main weakness Zinedine Zidane’s team showed against Liverpool was down their right flank, where they had Federico Valverde playing out of position due to Lucas Vasquez’s knee injury. Thomas Tuchel must play Ben Chilwell for his speed and forget about the rotation that has seen Marcos Alonso back in the line-up. Chilwell will get into attacking positions like Andy Robertson did and will need to have an understanding with his left-sided forward, which is likely to be Timo Werner or Christian Pulisic.
Sadio Mane enjoyed success down that flank and with better finishing from his team-mates Liverpool would have pulled a goal back in the first couple of minutes. Valverde’s passing is excellent as you would expect from a central midfielder but found himself in difficulty with opponents running at him.
Cut the supply to Kroos
The damage against Liverpool was done in the first leg on Real Madrid’s training ground pitch at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. Jurgen Klopp’s side failed to press high up the pitch when Toni Kroos was on the ball and the masterful German was able to pick his long passes upfield, leading to two first-half goals.
Chelsea’s front three will be their first line of defence and must make sure paths are blocked off so Real cannot find Kroos, nor can he be given any time. Liverpool’s tactical tweak worked in the second leg where he was less effective, even though that meant Luka Modric and Casemiro could influence the game more. When he does get on the ball, Chelsea centre-backs cannot give Karim Benzema or Vinicius Junior space behind them, as Kroos will find his team-mates.
Use an out-and-out centre forward
Zidane had his defence and midfield in a compact unit that was very difficult to break down. Chelsea will find more success with a No 9 stretching their defence and putting pressure on their centre-backs. Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane were missing against Liverpool after testing positive for Covid-19 and either of them returning will make the job tougher with a “False Nine”.
It would be a shift in tactics for Thomas Tuchel, who has used Kai Havertz as his striker in recent games. Timo Werner has also played there and the last time he played Olivier Giroud was against relegation-bound Sheffield United. Giroud would cause Real problems, as would the pace of Tammy Abraham, even though the England striker appears out of favour at the moment.
Make positive early substitutions
James Milner felt Liverpool lost momentum with the timing of their substitutes. “With a few of the substitutions, sometimes you lose your way for a few minutes while the new players get into the game. Maybe it just cost us a few minutes of time,” said Milner.
Assessing where the tie is heading and making decisive changes earlier in the second halves would be a positive move from Tuchel. If Real are showing weakness in an area, exploit it as soon as possible. Chelsea have a deep squad and Mateo Kovacic is their only current injury concern. They will need more than 11 players to get through to the final.
Unleash Kante
The most important battle of the tie will be N’Golo Kante and Casemiro in the heart of midfield. Casemiro made the most tackles in the second leg against Liverpool and topped the list for possession gained by a player. The Brazilian showed his range of passing too, as he and Modric showed their class in tight spaces.
Kante will be the key to overwhelming Real’s experienced midfield. He is more than just a destroyer but it will be down to him to win tackles and pick up loose balls before starting Chelsea attacks. The winner of that duel will go some way to winning the tie and reaching the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul next month.
