Chelsea remembered how they won European competitions. 4 Potter ideas helped

Remember Karim Adeyemi’s goal? Winner, from the first match against Chelsea. The German flew off in a counterattack, and only Enzo Fernandez turned towards him. The poor Argentine was torn apart – Borussia hooked on a convenient result.

Adeyemi took off to the attack after a corner. Graham Potter learned the lessons of the Dortmund game. In the 37th minute of the answer, Chelsea took two players to rebound from the corner. On the 72nd – and all three. The Londoners cut off unnecessary counterattacks – and Borussia suffered from Karim’s injury.

Rebounding is just one of the details that Potter thought through before the second match against Dortmund. Chelsea’s victory was determined by a set of decisions from Graham.

The hosts entered the game with active pressure. In the 3rd minute, Enzo gave out a high tackle, in the 6th minute, an early return of the ball led to the moment of Joao Felix. Chelsea pressed the block 2-3. The front three covered the first line of Borussia, and two midfielders covered the middle one.

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Despite the high defense, the Potter players did not allow gaps. The reason is the bold play of the defenders. Marc Cucurella returned the ball high twice in the starting 10 minutes. On the 19th, Wesley Fofana aggressively interrupted Rafael Guerreira.

The Chelsea defenders supported the partners in front. The midfielders kept the line perfectly. Hence, there is a minimum of space through which Borussia could break through someone else’s pressure. And Potter’s first victory.

The second success was tied up on the flanks. Before the match, Potter reasoned that the wingback positions were the most comfortable for Rhys James and Ben Chilwell. In the 3-4-3 formation, the kraks can be more actively involved in the attack.

The Dortmund game confirmed Graham’s thoughts. Chelsea used the 3-4-3 formation. Chilwell contributed to the first goal when he crossed Raheem Sterling before shots. James on the 33rd transferred to Ben’s zone – the attack reached the blow of Mateo Kovacic.

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The third successful thought tied up on Kai Havertz. The first hint from the German came in the 2nd minute: a pupil of Bayer threw the ball to move Sterling, who was hovering in front of someone else’s goal. The 29th number did not play as a striker, but as a playmaker – in a light pull.

The entire match with Borussia, Havertz worked exactly what is between the lines. Kai successfully received and promoted the ball, and the place in the penalty area went to Felix and Sterling – just like before the German hit the post in the first half.

Two attacking thoughts – about Havertz as a ten and about wingbacks – united before the penalty in favor of Chelsea. First, Kai advanced the ball to Sterling from deep. Raheem then found a pass to Chilwell, who went into the final third and hit the hand of Marius Wolff.

The score 2:0 took Chelsea to the quarter-finals. With a comfortable result, Potter came up with the fourth successful idea. We are talking about the replacement of Conor Gallagher.

Two minutes before the reform, Borussia slipped into a sharp attack, which ended with a blow from the penalty area. The reason was Enzo’s mistake. Fernandez rushed too aggressively into the selection and left the zone behind his back, along which the opponent passed.

Enzo could not help but get involved in the pressure – such was the structure of Chelsea. Potter couldn’t risk it either. Gallagher’s entry in place of Felix added a pressing player to the Londoners (Conor has the team’s third most tackles in 90 minutes) and allowed Fernandez to stay deeper.