Manchester City will still win the title but this was a win of genuine significance for Chelsea’s German coachOh, Sergio. A reminder from Mr Guardiola to all boys – particularly those who are leaving the Etihad Campus at the end of the year. Term is not over. The final exam is not yet passed. And this really isn’t the moment to start having fun.This was an odd, increasingly gripping game. A 2-1 Chelsea win only delayed the inevitable title celebrations for Manchester City. But it carried a genuine significance for Thomas Tuchel, firming up the likelihood of a top four finish and ensuring his future employment to – shall we say? – at least November. Related: Chelsea’s Ziyech and Alonso...
Real Madrid were unable to cope with Chelsea’s power but Thomas Tuchel’s side need to be more ruthless in the finalHow do you kill that which cannot be killed? How do you stop the white-shirted spectre from rising once again as a Champions League semi-final reaches its decisive final moments? Just a thought. But sticking the ball in the net might be a start.On a glorious, occasionally excruciating night at Stamford Bridge Chelsea simply ran right through Real Madrid, with N’Golo Kanté a commanding, decisive presence. Frankly they should have won this game 6-0. Madrid looked gone after 20 minutes, an ageless team grown old, unable to cope with Chelsea’s power and spring. Related: Chelsea power past Real Madrid to...
Karim Benzema’s equaliser demonstrated the danger that lurks for Thomas Tuchel’s side if they fail to find composure up frontKarim Benzema’s brilliant equaliser for Real Madrid on Tuesday night was more than a random act of genius. It was a punishment that Chelsea brought on themselves by failing to land the killer blow when they were on top during the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at Valdebebas, demonstrating they cannot simply rely on Thomas Tuchel’s keen tactical mind against Europe’s best.The lesson was not lost on Tuchel, who knew Chelsea had only themselves to blame after missing a chance to put away the 13-time champions. There was no point complaining about Madrid’s goal coming against the run of...
The energy of football’s outrage over the Super League has been heartening, but were the clubs only posturing after all?As the sun dipped below the roof-line of Stamford Bridge something strange began to happen. The birds flew backwards through the sky, the cats barked, the trees turned a tangerine hue, and Roman Abramovich became, at a stroke, the protector of the people’s game, enemy of the elites, the oligarch of the masses.What world is this we have now entered? How far have we travelled through the looking glass? What powerful hallucinogenic drugs have been administered to lead us in the space of three days to a place where the hordes of football supporters on the Fulham Road can proclaim English...
Thomas Tuchel asked his forward to pare his game back to a very specific movement at Wembley – and in workedIt is a sporting truism that some athletes “get better” by not playing. Absence is flattering to the reputation. Time dims the bad bits and illuminates the good. The problem for Timo Werner in this dynamic, the one flaw in the plan, is that there haven’t actually been any good bits yet.Or at least, not enough. And not until now. Instead Werner has been a frantic presence in west London, a £50m player whose basic footballing range has been seriously questioned. Most recently he was compared by one pundit to a non-scoring Jamie Vardy - which is, let’s face it,...