UEFA Europa League 2018/19: BATE vs Chelsea

This match analysis first featured on our dedicated Chelsea site, feelchelsea.com.

A victory for Chelsea in their Europa League match away to BATE Borisov guaranteed qualification into the knockout stages. Sarri named a particularly strong looking side with Jorginho and Hazard making rare starts in this competition. Hazard who made his comeback from injury in the last Premier League game against Crystal Palace struggled to make an impact during this game.

The first half was a very poor tepid display from Chelsea in which they struggled to create any real chances at goal, failing to have a single shot on target in the first half. Sarri will hope his side improve on this performance when it comes to the knockout stages. Credit must be given to BATE who were disciplined in their defensive work, preventing Chelsea from accessing key central areas.

BATE’s Low Block

BATE started the match by trying to be more aggressive in their positioning than the first match. They tried to engage the Chelsea defence high up the pitch in order to disrupt their build-up play. At Stamford Bridge it was Skavysh playing on the right-hand side of midfield who was the more advanced; however, in this game, it was the left midfielder Stasevich who was positioned higher up the pitch.

This tactic, however, didn’t last very long as BATE retreated further back and allowed Chelsea easy possession with their centre-backs and instead focused on preventing passes into Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Pedro, Hazard and Giroud. This tactic was particularly effective in the defensive phase in the first half as Chelsea struggled to penetrate through central areas. Giroud, in particular, struggled in the first half receiving just 13 passes.

BATE created a box shape out of possession in midfield in order to prevent passes from being played into Barkley and Loftus-Cheek. Jorginho would often find himself within the centre of the box, ready to be pressed, during the build-up play. This often caused the Chelsea midfielders to position themselves deeper in order to receive the ball. The compact horizontal spacing forced Chelsea to pass the ball into less advantageous wide areas. When Chelsea did move the ball wide they struggled to find passes back into more advantageous central areas.