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Alonso, Rudiger 4/10 as Chelsea slump against Bayern

Written by 
Published in Soccer
Tuesday, 25 February 2020 14:35

Chelsea were humbled by one of Europe's finest at Stamford Bridge tonight as Bayern Munich ran out 3-0 winners in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie.

Following a strong first half from Frank Lampard's side it all seemed to fall apart courtesy of a three-minute Serge Gnabry brace not long after the interval. The cherry on top came from Robert Lewandowski who scored a tap-in after a lovely assist from youngster Alphonso Davies.

Positives

In the first half it was clear to see that Chelsea were charging Bayern down well and giving them something to think about as opposed to giving up possession with ease. They found success in cutting through Bayern with the occasional through ball, and from the wings they were having some joy with dangerous balls into the box.

Negatives

The gulf in class between these two clubs became painfully evident as the game went on with Bayern Munich wearing the hosts down with each and every passing minute. Chelsea left gaps at the back, kept getting dragged out of position and struggled massively with the pace that Bayern were able to utilise down both flanks.

Manager rating out of 10

5 -- It felt like a free roaming kind of formation from Frank Lampard, to the point where they were set up to be quick on the ball and go for the counter -- but it just didn't really pay off for them. As opposed to trying to catch Bayern out, Lampard should've gone for a simple two banks of four to give them the best chance of keeping the Germans at bay. All of his substitutions were positive, although you could argue it left his side vulnerable at the back.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Willy Caballero, 6 -- The popular keeper was confident in his timing, made a few key saves in the first half and had a nice battle with Lewandowski -- but there's an argument to be made that he could've positioned himself better for the second and third goals.

DF Cesar Azpilicueta, 5 -- There's no real point to pressing forward when you don't have any sort of productive contribution to make, and that was the case for Azpilicueta who kept finding himself out of position with poor distribution to go alongside an unfortunate slip for the opener.

DF Andreas Christensen, 5 -- The Dane was out of his depth and really struggled to keep up with Bayern's relentless attacking prowess through questionable communication with Antonio Rudiger.

DF Antonio Rudiger, 4 -- Should've known better than to play Lewandowski onside for the first and not to track back with his man before being a step slow on the second.

DF Reece James, 5 -- While he may be quick to the ball on occasion, there was a hesitation from the youngster to go forward. As the game progressed, he appeared to regress with his marking and timing off the ball.

DF Marcos Alonso, 4 -- A low shot in the 43rd minute after cutting inside was as good as it got for Alonso, who didn't follow the play well at all before eventually being sent off for a straight red in the second half.

MF Jorginho, 5 -- The experienced midfielder was getting stuck into tackles and looked composed at points, but he couldn't replicate N'Golo Kante's leadership in midfield. He also picked up a really foolish yellow card for aggressive behaviour towards the referee and will miss the second leg.

MF Mateo Kovacic, 7 -- From splendid through balls to wonderful runs through the heart of Bayern's midfield to dispossessing the opposition, he was comfortably Chelsea's man of the match.

MF Mason Mount, 5 -- The trickery shown from Lampard's golden boy helped to generate a few chances but when he finds himself in dangerous positions he flounders -- especially when put up against the pace of Davies.

MF Ross Barkley, 4 -- Aside from battling hard in the opening 15-20 minutes, the former Everton star went missing and wound up chasing shadows in the middle of the park.

FW Olivier Giroud, 5 -- The World Cup winner brings others into the game well and adds nice hold-up play, but his laziness off the ball will forever harm his goalscoring consistency.

Substitutions

MF Willian, 6 -- The Brazilian found a handful of openings but couldn't quite mastermind a comeback for the Blues.

FW Tammy Abraham, 5 -- It was a cameo to forget for the Englishman who seemed off the pace with his decision-making and positional play.

FW Pedro, N/R -- Created a series of opportunities for Chelsea through great runs through the middle, nice balls into the box and solid link-up play.

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