Jose Mourinho has been forced to make weekly changes to his starting XI with hopes of striking natural balance across the pitch, and here, the Portuguese manager recalled Diego Costa upfront, but dropped his compatriot Cesc Fabregas.
One of the main issues derailing Chelsea’s season is the form of Matic and Fabregas. The latter’s poor tactical positioning and awareness leaves Matic with too much space to cover in central areas, which has seen opposing teams overrun Mourinho’s frail midfield.
Mourinho selected Ramires alongside the Serbian in midfield, opting for improved support, dynamism and tackling — to match Porto’s physical trio of Giannelli Imbula, Hector Herrera and Danilo Pereira — opposed to creativity. Ultimately, the personnel in midfield epitomized the theme of a slow-burning, scrappy match.
Bizarrely, Julen Lopetegui’s decision to move to a standard 3-5-2 was highly interesting. Three centre-backs against Diego Costa provided additional cover at the back, and with Danilo dropping deeper, it equally ensured Porto dominated possession despite Oscar’s intent to help his striker press. Porto, however, didn’t require an extra ball-carrier their half, which inevitably represented Lopetegui’s awareness of Costa’s threat in transition.
“We played against one of the best teams in the world on the counter-attack and we started better than them,” said Lopetegui.
“We had a plan but the goal changed everything. We wanted to stop their transitions but Chelsea became calmer and forced us to change.
With that being said, full-backs Miguel Layun and Maxi Pereira surged into advanced positions, while the midfield battle saw Oscar harry Danilo, Ramires track Imbula, and Matic convincingly bully Herrera off the ball. This was a commanding performance from the Serbian, who successfully completed all five take-ons, six tackles — Chelsea completed twice as many tackles than the away side — and a match high four interceptions.
Ramires and Matic offered improved protection ahead of a leaky back-line, remaining within five-yards of each other for long spells, with the Serbian breaking up play and subsequently charging forward on powerful individual slaloms or igniting an attack with a vertical pass. It was Matic who found Oscar in both halves in the build up to chances for the Brazilian and Costa, but neither player could beat Iker Casillas.
The other issue with Lopetegui’s setup was the strike partnership upfront. Jesus Manuel Corona drifted to the flanks, whereas Yacine Brahimi dropped into midfield to receive the ball before attempting to evade several Chelsea challenges 30 yards from goal. More so, the wing-backs had no crossing outlets in the box, and with no runners going beyond Chelsea’s back-line, the Blues comfortably coped with the Portuguese side’s threat.
Chelsea, on the other hand, relied on quick counter attacks to agitate Porto’s unconvincing defence, as it consistently took three passes to break into the away side’s penalty area. Chelsea’s opener witnessed Ramires find Eden Hazard between the lines, before the Belgian slid the ball behind the Porto defence for Costa.
Prior to the second, Oscar dispossessed Imbula and played Costa free on goal, and the combination of Hazard, Willian and Costa broke forward after Brahimi conceded possession, but Casillas denied Willian. The same trio combined for Willian’s goal, and the simplicity in the build up highlighted Porto’s inability to deal with Chelsea’s power and pace on the break.
“The thing that I’m most happy with, apart from the result, is the fact we needed a point to qualify and the players accepted the challenge of playing to win,” said Mourinho.
“That’s not easy when the moment is bad, results are negative and pressure is high. They [Chelsea players] were brave to accept that challenge. “
Lopetegui was forced to change the game shortly afterwards, reverting back to a 4-3-3 with Vincent Aboubakar leading the line — Corona and Brahimi moved to the flanks — and Ruben Neves slotting into midfield. Chelsea dropped deeper to their penalty area as their energy levels decreased in the second half, handing Neves enough space to cycle possession across the pitch, whereas Aboubakar offered a physical threat upfront and pace behind the defence.
Corona repeatedly bamboozled both Chelsea full-backs before delivering positive crosses into the box, while Brahimi’s efforts flew inches wide of the post. Lopetegui summoned Cristian Tello for the remaining 20 minutes, but Porto’s move to a 4-2-4 left ample space available for Chelsea’s front four — led by Hazard and Costa — to exploit on the counterattack.
Still, Porto’s lack of creativity in midfield and a focal point upfront proved costly.
Mourinho’s trust in last year’s front four was successful, but the decision to opt for brawn over creativity enabled Chelsea to storm through adversity to win their respected group.
