Wasteful Wolfsburg: How Chelsea controlled their UWCL clash without the ball

Chelsea Women faced Wolfsburg Women in the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Budapest’s Szusza Ferenc Stadium, with the game ending in a 2-1 win for Chelsea which gives them a considerable advantage heading into the second leg. However, it must be said that Wolfsburg were the dominant team in this match in terms of attacking and creating dangerous goal-scoring actions. which should give them hope of overturning this result.

In this tactical analysis piece, we will delve deeper into analysing how Chelsea were able to get a positive result despite their average overall performance, especially when compared to their recent performances in the FAWSL, as well as how Wolfsburg lost the match despite being the better team on the pitch in terms of tactics, chances and attacking threat. This analysis will try to answer these intriguing questions while exploring the data and analysing some of the most pivotal actions of the match.

Line-ups

Emma Hayes chose to start this crucial game in a 4-4-2 diamond formation relying on Ann-Katrin Berger as a goalkeeper, Niamh Charles, Millie Bright, Magdalena Eriksson and Jonna Andersson in defence, Melanie Leupolz, Sophie Ingle and Ji So-yun as the central midfielders, while Pernille Harder supported the attack by playing as an advanced playmaker just behind Sam Kerr, the team’s striker, and Fran Kirby who was the second striker and tended to go out towards the right flank during the match.

Stephan Lerch, Wolfsburg’s manager, started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Katarzyna Kiedrzynek as a goalkeeper, Kathrin Hendrich, Sara Doorsoun-Khajeh, Dominique Janssen and Felicitas Rauch in defence, Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Lena Oberdorf as the central midfielders, while Svenja Huth and Fridolina Rolfö played on the flanks with Alexandra Popp positioned as an advanced playmaker behind the striker Ewa Pajor.

 Wolfsburg’s attacking first-half

Chelsea played without the services of Bethany England and Maren Mjelde due to injuries but had many options on the bench such as Erin Cuthbert and Jessie Fleming. They started the match with a lot of intensity and it was clear that they were the team that was looking to score and threaten Wolfsburg’s defence first since they pressed high from the first minute. However, Wolfsburg were the ones who had the first big opportunity of the match when Rolfö’s header went off target in the second minute.