Schalke 0-3 Chelsea: Five things we learned

The on-going Champions League campaign started with a disaster for Chelsea. However, with successive away wins after that initial loss to Basel at home has put them right back on track for qualification from the group.

Their latest triumph came in the form of a 3-0 win in Germany against Schalke 04, who are, arguably, their strongest rivals in Group E of the Champions League.

Fernando Torres opened the scoring just within five minutes of the start with a close range header from a corner and doubled his tally with a goal on the break in the 69^th minute. To round things off, Eden Hazard made it 3-0 three minutes before the end of the match.

Here are the five things we learned from Chelsea’s crucial win over Schalke 04 on Tuesday night.

Torres takes the cake

Fernando Torres – The jury is still out?

Fernando Torres was the man on form when Chelsea took on Schalke 04 on Tuesday. He scored an incisive header early on in the match to give the Blues a 1-0 lead, which was followed by a breakaway goal about an hour later.

For all the criticism Torres has faced since his move from Liverpool, he finally seems to be answering it. Torres was full of vision and possessed that extra couple of yards of speed that he has been lacking for a long time.

Maybe, it is the pace of the Champions League football that works in his favour, which is not as fast as the pace of a Premier League match and therefore, allows Torres that extra couple of seconds on the ball to create something of it.

His first touch on the ball right before the second goal of the match was extraordinary. It not only helped him control the ball, but also sent keeper the wrong way and left the defender pondering over his tackle.

Torres’s desire to win the ball back as soon as he lost it and to create something with every touch made this performance all the more memorable. And to add to it all, he tracked back enough for Mourinho’s liking.

However, whether this Torres will stand up for Chelsea in the Premier League remains to be seen.

Schalke waste and waste

Schalke 04 – Home advantage wasted, big time!

Simply, a lot was expected of Schalke 04 at the Veltins Arena and they failed to deliver on each and every front.

Die Knappen were abysmal in front of the goal and lacked an out-and-out target man. Their attacks lacked the pace and creativity and as a result, there was no end product whatsoever. The Chelsea defense was on their toes the whole night and was able to read any attack that the Germans tried to build.

On the other side of the pitch, Schalke defense held their own throughout the match, but conceded the goals due to tactical inaccuracies and bad luck.

Schalke, after the half-time break, shifted to a more attacking formation with three defenders at the back, which left the hole for pacey players like Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle to thrive on the counter.

Switching to an attacking formation early in the second half was a wrong move as it allowed Chelsea to settle for a counter attacking strategy. Had the hosts kept hold of their 4-2-3-1 formation from the first half till the 70^th minute, before switching to 3-5-2, things could have been different.

It was their lack of bodies in the defense which saw them concede two more goals in the second half. If they want a result at Stamford Bridge, they need to go back to the drawing board.

Draxler is not so special

Julian Draxler – Pass on!

Julian Draxler is, apparently, the £70 million man that every big Premier League club is after. The first question that comes to mind after this is; Why?

The young German was absent throughout the match and was unable to stamp his authority on it. Except a few quick short passes to play through the Chelsea midfield, Draxler did not do anything that would justify his £70 million price tag.

In fact, late in the second half, he was the one who should have been substituted, which would have allowed Schalke to play more directly, instead of going through him for every attack and him being unable to create something out of it.

Sure, Jose Mourinho had a plan up his sleeves for the young German, but when one is billed to be a £70 million superstar, he should be able to raise his game and make a mark nonetheless.

Given further big match experience, he might turn out to be a gem of a player, but he will never, ever, be worth £70 million.

Defend first, attack second

Gary Cahill – Man of the moment

You know it is Mourinho’s Chelsea when you notice the state-of-the-art defending technique in which three players are inside their own box at all times, even when the opposition is about 30 yards outside the box.

That is the mark of a sturdy defense, in which the players do not leave their positions, or rather get back to their positions as soon as possible. Even though Gary Cahill stole the show in defense on Tuesday night, it will be John Terry’s containment which will win the manager’s praise.

The way Terry guided Cesar Azpilicueta, who was playing as a makeshift left-back in the absence of Ashley Cole, during every Schalke attack was remarkable. At times, it was as if Terry was keeping an eye out for two players instead of one. His vast experience paid dividends for Chelsea in Germany on Tuesday night.

Just like the setup of any other Mourinho team, Chelsea heeded more attention to their defensive duties, especially in the second half. And when they gained control of the ball, the defenders cleared the ball to wings, where a player named Eden Hazard was always on standby to run the Schalke’s defense ragged.

That’s exactly how Chelsea’s last two goals of the game came about. Mourinho’s game plan worked, yet again.

Countering – The art of it

Eden Hazard – Countering the belief

Malleability is one of Chelsea’s top qualities this season. They know how to adapt to the situation and that ability could come in handy as the season wears on.

The way Chelsea adapted to the situation at hand on Tuesday night was nothing short of impressive. Playing a reserved game in the first half after gaining the early lead, Chelsea controlled the match in a tremendous fashion by playing contained passes in their own half and finding the occasional long ball to the wings in the opposition half.

Second half, on the other hand, was a true test of their adaptability when Schalke started attacking with all that they had in store. Schalke shifted to a 3-5-2 formation, which meant that Chelsea was going to be outnumbered in the middle of the park.

Chelsea answered by putting Eden Hazard at one flank and Oscar at the other, with Torres down the middle, while Schurrle helped with the defending. Chelsea shifted to a defensive 4-3-3 and reaped the results around the hour mark, when Schalke failed to break the defensive wall and were caught on the counter.

What one witnessed was the perfect counter attacking game, which is hard to contain and if this performance is anything to go by, Chelsea will be able to deliver the goods against the big guns, albeit on the counter.