[Review of the game] Chelsea lost to Bayern 1-3: An expensive and necessary tuition fee for the Champions League

The first shot to return to the Champions League stage was lost 1:3 to Bayern Munich at Allianz Stadium. Just looking at the score, this is a loss; but after watching the 90 minutes, I believe that most Chelsea fans will agree with our first feeling after the game: this game is not embarrassing.

Faced with the experienced Bundesliga overlord, the young Blues played well most of the time, and even had the advantage in the first half of the sports game. The Blues did not shrink to defend, but fought bravely. The final loss was not so much a defeat in strength, but more of a expensive but necessary "Champions League tuition": he was ruthlessly punished by his opponent for several key mistakes he made due to lack of experience. This game is a mirror that clearly reflects the gap between Chelsea and the top European teams and also reflects the hope of the future.

The game brief description

Return to the Champions League stage, Chelsea was not frightened against Bayern away, and even more proactive in the opening stage than the home team. But the balance was broken by Chelsea's immaturity in just 7 minutes:

20 minutes, after a rare "ball hit the referee" bounced into the earth, Bayern made a simple cross from the wing, but unfortunately hit Chaloba, who was returning to defense, and became an own. Just 7 minutes later, Kesedo made a reckless foul in the penalty area and gave him a point. Kane scored a quick run, 0:2 in an instant. The young Blues did not disappoint. Two minutes later, Palmer made a wonderful personal breakthrough and received Gusto's cross and scored 2:1, retaining the suspense. After the change of sides, Bayern strengthened control, and the Blues' offensive sharpness decreased. Goalkeeper Sanchez made a number of key saves and still couldn't stop him from making a fatal pass in the backcourt in the 63rd minute, and Kane scored another 3:1. After that, Palmer was blew up the offside goal and was ultimately unable to rewrite the score, losing 1-3 in the first match of the Champions League.

Comments after the game

Reese James plays as a midfielder: A bold or a test that goes against reality?

In order to deal with the high intensity of the Champions League, coach Maresca made 4 adjustments and ranked 4-2-3-1. The most unexpected thing was to push captain James into the midfield and form a double midfielder with Kesedo. The intention is obvious: use James' physical confrontation and experience to offset Bayern's midfield pressure. But the double-edged sword effect is revealed - although it is hard enough, it loses the strongest assist point on the right, and James is unable to fully exert his influence in a strange position.

The suffocation battle under high pressure

The core of this tactical game is a "high pressure" offensive and defensive battle. Bayern has a clear idea: use extremely aggressive frontcourt compression to suffocate our backcourt organization. Advanced data: Bayern PPDA (that is, the number of passes in each defensive action.) is only 10.1, and the intensity and efficiency of the compression are above the Blues. This is the ironclad evidence of "not being able to play out your own style". The Blues tried to make Palmer the "free man" to crack the oppression in the first half, and it worked for a while, and the sports war xG (expected goals) even dominated. The cruel reality behind the data

1. The total xG (expected goals) of the game is far lower than Bayern's 2.07, and the creativity gap is huge (if Kane's 0.8 penalty kick is removed, 0.52 vs. 1.27 is understandable).

2. Experience gap: Neuer made 151 appearances in the Champions League alone, which is more than the Blues' total (117 times).

3. Highlights: The Blues xGOT (expected goal threat) is as high as 1.03, twice that of xG (expected goal), which means that the shooting quality is excellent, but there are too few opportunities.

Half game: Wake up too late?

The second half trend is a coach game. Bayern coach Kompany made targeted deployments in the midfield, completely locking our offensive routine in the first half - the sports war xG (expected goal) plummeted to 0.05. At the same time, due to the sequelae of Club World Cup + international match day, players' physical fitness declined, and multiple factors led to their inability to fight back. Maresca's strain was slightly slow, and it was not too late to make a large substitution until he lost the third goal.

Although they lost, they still have a glory of honor: the three major mistakes and the first ray of dawn

3 goals conceded all stem from personal mistakes (owns, fouls, passes), which were infinitely magnified on the Champions League stage. Goalkeeper Sanchez made several key saves to avoid a bigger score.

Before the game, many people said that Chelsea was a "lower dog" and that winning only depends on miracles. But the name "Chelsea" should still be a symbol of a strong team. I lost this game, but don’t lose my backbone. I knew less than two years ago that it was the key to whether I had made progress after paying the tuition fee. Hold your head up and learn how to be a truly strong team, starting with your mentality - this is not only what players and coaches, but also what fans should learn together.

Summary

This 1:3 defeat is more important than the result. Tactically, we see Maresca's bold attempts and the highlights of cracking the compression in the first half; at the same time, we also see clearly how the team's system is collapsed when facing the top team's high-intensity pressure in 90 minutes, and how insufficient experience leads to fatal mistakes. This is the tuition fee to be paid.