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Chelsea won the UEFA Super Cup 6-5 on penalties as they beat 2020-21 Europa League winners Villarreal in Belfast on Wednesday night.
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This was a clash between two teams who had silenced the critics and done the unthinkable just over two months ago. Villarreal produced a tireless performance to beat Manchester United on penalties in the Europa League final in late May. Just a few days later, Thomas Tuchel's men defied the odds to beat Manchester City and lift the Champions League trophy for the second time in ten years. It was high time Emery and Tuchel battled it out for another European title in 2021.
Chelsea dominated the first few exchanges of the game as they took the game to Villarreal in Belfast. They opened the scoring through Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech after German international Kai Havertz sent in an inviting cross into the box. Villarreal's Gerard Moreno did hit the crossbar just before half-time, but the Yellow Submarines never grew into the game in the first 45 minutes.
The second half saw the two European champions switch roles tactically. As Villarreal dominated possession and pressed higher up the pitch, Chelsea were restricted to their defensive third. The pressing paved the way for the Spanish side's equalizer in the 73rd minute. Gerard Moreno combined excellently with Boulaye Dia to smash the ball past Edouard Mendy.
The game went into extra time after both sides failed to create quality chances, let alone scoring the deciding goal in this Super Cup final. Unlike in the second half, Chelsea approached both halves of extra time with a new-born vigor. An attack that was spearheaded by Christian Pulisic was enlivened from midfield by Mason Mount. But the Blues squandered a couple of chances and the game eventuallywent to penalties.
After both sides missed a penalty early on in the shootout, it was Kepa Arrizabalaga who had the last laugh. Raul Albiol's sudden-death spot-kick was saved by the Chelsea stopper to settle the deadlock. Arrizabalaga was specifically brought on by Thomas Tuchel for the penalties, having replaced Edouard Mendy in extra time.
On that note, let's take a look at the top five talking points from this Super Cup encounter in Windsor.
#1 Emery and Tuchel switch seats for the first half
The first half of this Super Cup fixture saw a very unusual showing from both sides. Tuchel's Chelsea, known for their calm and composed out-of-possession tactics, were allowed the bulk of possession by their Spanish counterparts. Meanwhile, the Yellow Submarine sat back and invited pressure, waiting to hit the Champions League winners on the counter.
This was more of a proactive approach by Emery to unsettle the Chelsea camp, while Tuchel only adapted to the game as it progressed. Luckily for the Blues, Villarreal failed to really make the best out of their designated tactical setup for Wednesday night. Chelsea dominated the first half, both from the possession point of view as well as the creation phase of the game.
It also offered glimpses for both sets of supporters about how the teams could perform against inferior opposition going forward. Chelsea take on Crystal Palace next, a team that always sit back in a low-block and are hard to break.
#2 A bitter-sweet Deja vu for Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech
Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech continued his blazing pre-season form as he opened the scoring for the Blues in the 27th minute. Perfectly positioned to receive Kai Havertz's cross into the penalty area, he slotted the ball home accurately to beat Sergio Asenjo from close range.
Things seemed to be moving in the right direction for the Moroccan international this pre-season. But his joy was short lived as he suffered another injury on Wednesday night that could rule him out of the first few Premier League fixtures.
The former Ajax stalwart's Chelsea career has never really taken off as he faces a similar threat to last season. In his premier season with the club last year, Ziyech started the pre-season campaign really well just to get injured in a friendly. The winger was never able to live up to the expectations of the English game and only made cameo appearances for the Blues.
Will it be another similarly disappointing season for Ziyech in London? Has Chelsea got a really injury-prone star on their hands? The next few months should give us the answers to these questions.
#3 Villarreal crack the Tuchel code through third-time lucky Gerard Moreno
The second half saw both Chelsea and Villarreal return to their long-term playing style. As the Blues moved deeper, trying to invite pressure and hit their opponents on the counter, the Spanish outfit were more direct and aggressive. The Spanish club pressed much higher, pouncing on every possible Chelsea mistake.
This proved to be a successful mantra for them in the second-half as Gerard Moreno almost scored from an Edouard Mendy mistake. But the Spanish striker could only hit the post. He had rattled the cross-bar similarly before, in the first half, to the Villarreal camp's dismay.
But third-time lucky, Moreno played a beautiful exchange of passes with Boulaye Dia to find himself in an almost one-on-one position with the Chelsea stopper. It was hard to miss from that position as the 29-year-old smashed the ball past Mendy to make it 1-1 for the La Liga side.
It was very unusual to see Chelsea crumble under pressure. The ability to progress the ball without flinching under pressure was the exact tactical nuance that made them the European Champions earlier this summer. This could be the start of some tactical changes in the Blues' camp.
#4 Chelsea lose their rhythm due to second-half changes
The second-half changes almost came back to haunt Tuchel as Chelsea lost ground after switching on players all over the pitch. The first blood drawn was replacing N'Golo Kante with Jorginho. The Italian had a decent game right until his successful penalty in the shootout. But he looked far from replicating his fellow French team-mate's impact on the pitch.
Kante's departure from the field was greeted well by the Villarreal players as they started winning most of the duels in midfield. Goal-scorer Moreno was instrumental in this tactical change as he made sure Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho couldn't make those line-breaking passes with constant pressure.
The second big impact of Tuchel's substitutions came when Christian Pulisic came on for Hakim Ziyech owing to the latter's injury scare. Though it fit the narrative as Pulisic terrorized the Villarreal defense through his dribbling, it left a big void defensively for the Blues on the right-flank.
Chelsea were lucky not to have lost the title due to destabilizing substitutions tonight. But it could prove costly for the European Champions over the course of the season, especially in the Premier League where games are overturned due to fine margins.
#5 Kepa Arrizabalaga redeems his Chelsea career with penalty shootout heroics
After falling out with Maurizio Sarri during the Italian coach's sole season in England, Kepa Arrizabalaga found himself under immense scrutiny with successor Frank Lampard too. The arrival of Senegalese Edouard Mendy meant that the Spaniard's first-team role had been jeopardized for the long-term.
But Thomas Tuchel might just have reinvigorated Kepa's career at Chelsea in the right direction. The German manager brought the Spanish stopper on for Mendy in the dying minutes of extra time as Arrizabalaga was statistically the better penalty shootout stopper.
It turned into a golden moment in the club's history as the outcast goal-keeper made two big saves to win the game and the title for the Londoners. The future still looks bleak for Arrizabalaga at Chelsea as he has certainly lost his regular spot to Mendy. But it will be interesting to see how the Chelsea management accommodates the two big-money stoppers in today's business-minded sport of football.
Chelsea will host Crystal Palace in their opening game of the Premier League on Saturday, 14th of August 2021 as their pursuit of the next title challenge continues. Meanwhile, Villarreal clash with Granada in La Liga as they aim to replicate last season's success again.
