UCL Nights
Juventus and Chelsea were missing key players heading into the tie in Turin. Max Allegri was missing Alvaro Morata & Paulo Dybala. Chelsea did not come with Mason Mount, Reece James, Christian Pulisic, and N’golo Kante. The last time these two faced each other, Chelsea were the champions and Roberto Di Matteo lost his job a day after a loss to the Turin team. The Old Lady have only kept one clean sheet in 23 games and it came against Malmo on Matchday 1 of the UCL. Chelsea beat Zenit in their opening game in a game where they struggled.
First Half
Chelsea had the first good chance of the game when Marcos Alonso worked a disguised corner-kick to Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian lashed a shot but it was comfortable for Wojciech Szczęsny. Juventus then had two great chances to score from two Mateo Kovacic giveaways. The first saw Adrien Rabiot breakaway but his final pass was wayward. The second saw Federico Chiesa fire wide of Chelsea’s goal. On 30, Rabiot cut onto his right foot and blazed over the bar from 25 yards out. It was a tactically severe but enjoyable match.
Both teams struggled to do more. Chiesa was attacking the Chelsea backline a lot but could not break the rearguard while Hakim Ziyech & Kai Havertz struggled to influence the game in any way. Juve missed Morata to pierce Chelsea’s backline while Chelsea missed Mount for his ability to link midfield to attack. Lukaku was looking impotent due to the lack of someone to link with.
Halftime, Juventus 0-0 Chelsea
Second Half
Ben Chilwell on for Marcos Alonso.
Juventus came crashing down on Chelsea and scored ten seconds after the restart. A long ball from Leonardo Bonucci to Alex Sandro who sent the ball on and Federico Bernadeschi won a header(!!!) He reversed a pass for Chiesa who lashed his shot into the top corner. Juventus 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea upped the tempo but could not find any openings. Juan Cuadrado gave Bernadeschi a glorious chance to score but the Italian managed to skew his shot off target. Chelsea threw on reinforcement and kept trying but Juve looked more dangerous when they came forward. Ross Barkley slipped in Lukaku and the Belgian should have scored but he blazed over. CHO set up two a header for Havertz but he headed over. In the dying minutes of the game, Chelsea had a corner and Havertz should have converted to make up for his horrible performance. His header sailed over
It ended Juventus 1-0 Chelsea in Turin. Juventus steal the march on the group. Chelsea remain in second place despite Zenit having a better goal difference. Head to head is what counts in the UCL standings. Plenty for Thomas Tuchel to think about after back-to-back defeats.
[…] Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot has tested positive for Covid-19 the French National Team announced this morning. Rabiot started & played 75 minutes in the memorable comeback victory against Belgium. With his side now in the final to be played in Milan against Spain, Rabiot will remain in isolation. They did not announce if he has taken the vaccine or if he is asymptomatic. Based on the 2 weeks timeframe it has taken most footballers to recover from the virus, Rabiot will miss the UEFA Nations League final, the Bianconeri’s tie against Roma, and their UEFA Champions League group tie against Zenit Saint Petersburg. He should return just in time for when they take on champions Inter Milan. […]
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