Chelsea – Real Madrid: Ruthless Madrid March On (0-2)

Frank Lampard decided on an unorthodox midfield arrangement to try to bring a strong press and high tempo attack against the Real Madrid backline. Chelsea were the more proactive side and did create chances, but Madrid’s ruthlessness showed in the second half with two Rodrygo goals putting the game out of sight for Chelsea.
Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

A defeat for Chelsea in the Santiago Bernabéu last week was compounded at the weekend as they were completely outplayed by Brighton at home. Frank Lampard decided he needed to shake things up to get a result against Madrid in the second leg and went with an unexpected lineup.

Chelsea started in a 3-4-2-1 shape with a back three of Wesley Fofana, Thiago Silva, and Trevoh Chalobah. Reece James and Marc Cucurella were wing-backs, while Enzo Fernández and Mateo Kovačić were the deepest midfielders. N'Golo Kanté and Conor Gallagher as number tens in the box midfield were the biggest tactical surprise, while Kai Havertz played up front.

Carlo Ancelotti went for a more familiar approach, using a 4-3-3 shape with a back four of Dani Carvajal, Éder Militão, David Alaba, and Eduardo Camavinga. Toni Kroos, Federico Valverde, and Luka Modrić were the midfield trio, while Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior flanked Karim Benzema up front.

Chelsea go for tempo
While the plan of using Kant . . .