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#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.
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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.
