Chelsea look absolutely brilliant under Thomas Tuchel and he has not had to sign any of his ‘own’ players for that improvement to set in.
In the end it boiled down to one factor: Yannick Carrasco’s toxic push-pull relationship with Cesar Azpilicueta.
The Atletico winger collapsed under the questionable weight of two challenges at Stamford Bridge. A slight first-half shirt tug courtesy of the Chelsea captain in the penalty area led to nothing as the Spaniards chased a one-goal deficit. Not ten minutes later, the vacuum of a ruthless counter-attack instantly removed wind from sails. Hakim Ziyech consummated a move that began with an Atletico free-kick on the halfway line for Azpilicueta’s cynical shove on Carrasco. 1-0 on the night. 2-0 in the tie. Game over.
Watching those composite pieces of this once puzzling squad put that goal together made Chelsea’s previous struggles seem all the more peculiar. Four players signed by the club for £181.8m were involved from start to finish as Diego Simeone’s side were sliced open in 14 seconds, from Timo Werner’s excellent block to the impeccable N’Golo Kante’s header, Kai Havertz’s incisive run, Werner’s perceptive assist and the Ziyech effort that wriggled underneath Jan Oblak.
It truly is an unbelievable collection of players that Thomas Tuchel has at his disposal, yet he has emphatically succeeded in making this team greater than the sum of its parts. This is a triumph of man-management as much as it is a victory of tactical ingenuity.
Let it be neither downplayed nor overlooked: for only the third time this century, Atletico Madrid have lost a two-legged European knockout tie without scoring. With no disrespect to Real Madrid of 2015 or Bolton of 2008, they did not dismiss La Liga’s leaders so seemingly effortlessly. Atletico were restricted to four shots on target across 180 minutes by a team whose defensive resilience and organisation must have earned some seethingly admiring glances from Simeone on the touchline.
Tuchel has made a mockery of any manager and any supporter who continues to insist that progress is not possible unless a coach is adorned with his own specific choice of signings. Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, previously haphazard and unpredictable, look assured and reliable under his guidance. Marcos Alonso has been salvaged from the back of the sofa. Mateo Kovacic has been phenomenal since his appointment. Christian Pulisic grasped his opportunity to make a late impact. There is no talk of what Chelsea need to give Tuchel in the summer because he has already made what he has got look so brilliant.
Instead of using someone else’s tools and blaming that for his own shoddy workmanship, Tuchel has inherited some of the finest apparatus around and embraced the chance to figure out how they best work together.
Two of the last three managers Chelsea appointed in mid-season won a European trophy by the end of their first campaign.
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The only question mark has been in attack but 11 clean sheets in 13 games since he replaced Frank Lampard make that a luxury problem. Emerson Palmieri is scoring now. Europe is not ready for this.
The previous incumbent was not wrong to describe Atletico as “certainly one of the tougher teams we could’ve drawn on paper” when these two sides were pitted against one another in December. Yet Stefan Savic’s 81st-minute dismissal summed up a frustrated, exasperated shell of a team bettered in every department. Luis Suarez was taken off after an ineffective hour. Joao Felix thrilled early on but could not carry this team alone. Not against this opponent.
They have developed a habit of exiting Europe cruelly in recent seasons: in a one-legged quarter-final to a late goal last season, or on away goals, penalties and Cristiano Ronaldo in campaigns gone by. This was no less brutal but entirely more deserved. Chelsea thoroughly outplayed them.
With those players, it is little wonder. But it is never that simple and it is testament to Tuchel’s elite coaching for making it look so. Teams would have relished drawing them in the Champions League a few months ago. They should be as feared as anyone else now.
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