Kanté ‘smiles’ in the face of doubts

Thomas Tuchel faced the return crash against Atleti with two notable casualties, Mason Mount and Jorginho. The first has buried the label of right eye of Lampard and is the undisputed engine of the Blues. While the latter has fitted into the scheme of his new coach to perfection, turning off the light of N’Golo Kanté and placing him in a surprising background. Thus, the absence of the Italian-Brazilian was presented as a golden opportunity for the French pivot.

An exam that Kanté passed with flying colors. Accompanied by Kovacic, they acted as bomb squad and completely deactivated the rojiblanco midfield. The premise was clear, press and press not to let breathe. One of those who suffered the most from the London spider web was Marcos Llorente, who could not exploit his physique as he does in LaLiga. Without Mount and Jorginho, Havertz is a much more upright footballer and less involved in creation and the French international did not shy away from distribution.

In a scheme with three rocky plants like the one proposed by Tuchel, midfielders must handle the ball with solvency and N’Golo proved to be ready for it. After Azpilicueta, he was the player with the highest number of passes completed, with 71 (the Spanish hit 78). He missed only ten, resulting in a remarkable 88% success rate. And again after the captain, he was the second footballer who touched the most balls, with 97, three from Navarro and ahead of his teammate’s 87 in the engine room. All this adorned him with two stolen balls, four duels of seven wins and two interceptions. In addition to the endless intangibles that have made him consider one of the best defensive midfielders in recent years.

In short, in the face of adversity, Kanté showed his best smile. The one that does not abandon him despite the doubts that may exist after his change of status in the squad. In the Premier League he had only started four of the nine games he has played, while in the first leg against Atleti he was not part of the starting eleven either. He has not shown his disagreement at any time and has spoken where he always has, on the field. Now, Tuchel has the ball in his court. A problem that, while blessed, is still a problem.

Ziyech, the other claim

Before we talked about Mount’s hole, which Havertz occupied, but Tuchel was clear that his team’s options were going through the counterattack and decided to play with Werner of ‘9’, handing the reviled Hakim Ziyech the reins of redemption. Chelsea wanted to be supersonic and for this it was better to do without Giroud, the hero of the first leg but much more static. In a little more than half the bet proved correct and a set piece in favor of the rojiblancos ended in a slap. Havertz enabled Werner’s speed and Werner’s speed to a Ziyech that arrived before the retreat. Only against Oblak, he did not fail.

The Moroccan began the course launched after being a signing of bells, but lost his step until he reconsidered his continuity. In recent games it seems that Tuchel has wanted to reactivate him and the clash against Atleti could be the final springboard. In addition to the goal, it was a constant headache for the mattress defense. Received the highest grade in the statistical portal SofaScore, a ‘7.9’ and brushed the double with a home mark claw that Oblak had to send to a corner. He hit the three long passes he tried, one of his specialties, and if the clash had been played with the public, he would have raised the noise from the stands at each touch of the ball. Chelsea’s two casualties became solutions and, above all, claims.