Chelsea 0-0 Sevilla: winners and losers from Stamford Bridge stalemate



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Chelsea kicked off their Champions League campaign with a goalless draw with Sevilla at Stamford Bridge tonight.

Frank Lampard’s men came into this game calmly confident of getting all three points, but were duly frustrated by a well-organized Andualisan team.

The chances were few and far between with the summer’s great acquisition, Timo Werner (3), who produced half of the Blues’ efforts on goal and the visitors threatened a late winner.

Naturally, there were individual winners and losers. Here are three of each from this encounter.

Winner: Group E rivals

Before the start, the expectation was that both teams would advance comfortably to the knockout stages with Champions League minnows Stade Rennais and Krasnodar standing in their way. Given the competition, this was a great opportunity for either of them to print their authority, but that was never the case, instead all four sides are tied heading into matchday two.

And that’s because Rennes and Krasnodar also played a draw; Serhou Guirassy gave the French team a lead in the 56th minute from the penalty spot, before Cristian Ramírez leveled three minutes later. A trip to Russia calls Lampard’s men a week from now and the Blues will be desperate to return home with all three points or this group stage will get unnecessarily complicated.

Loser: Timo Werner

Try as he might, Timo Werner couldn’t pull it off for the hosts. Before last weekend, it looked like the German shooter was heading for a challenging first season at Bridge, but the way he converted his chances against Southampton felt like RB Leipzig’s serial scorer was finally unleashed.

During his period with the Bundesliga team, he directly participated in nine goals in 11 Champions League appearances, scoring seven of them, it seemed inevitable that he would become the third German player, after Michael Ballack (4 goals) and André Schürrle (2). – to score Chelsea in the competition, that wait continues for at least one other match.

Winner: Edouard Mendy

All eyes were on Chelsea’s powers this summer regarding possible competition from the much maligned (the world’s most expensive) goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and for a time it looked like Spainard was going to receive a reprieve, but everything changed to end of september. when Senegalese closer Édouard Mendy completed a £ 22 million move from Ligue 1 team, and Champions League Group E rivals Rennes – a turnaround that looks very promising.

Heading into today’s game, Mendy kept a clean sheet in two official appearances, which turned out to be his only Premier League shutout (against Crystal Palace) to date, Sevilla naturally kept the Montivilliers-born goalkeeper honest, though it was at the height of everything Julien Lopetegui. side threw him.

Loser: Jorginho

Since moving to Stamford Bridge in 2018, and later joined by former Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri, it has been a Chelsea run upside down for deep midfielder Jorginho, who was not long ago described as “exceptional” by the Napoli manager. Manchester City Pep Guardiola. statement that could not be repeated tonight. If anything, the 28-year-old Italian international, who appeared 104th for the Blues and sixth as a patron, was somewhat difficult.

You could easily have seen red in the first 45 minutes. A tactical foul earned him the yellow before referee Davide Massa considered unpunished a bad foot high. These mistakes aside, Jorginho struggled to do what he does best, completing 26 of 33 passes attempted (giving him a 79% completion rate compared to 89% for partner in crime N’Golo Kanté) , a poor performance from a player with reputable metronomic skills. In the end he would be substituted and replaced by Mateo Kovačić, with 25 minutes remaining.

Winner: Stamford Bridge Faithful

Unprecedented circumstances meant that Chelsea lost her twelfth man tonight, but in this presentation it can be argued that they were spared from witnessing this dismissal performance, although one may at least wonder if their mere presence could have affected the outcome towards a positive outcome. , we ‘will never know.

On the other hand, this was a rare blank for the Blues at home in the Champions League, as Sevilla became the number three team, in 32 previous outings, to prevent them from scoring in their own backyard. It is worrying, however, that the previous two occasions came last season in Lampard’s debut campaign when Valencia and eventual winners Bayern left the bridge with a clean sheet. So it’s really three misses in five European Cup games.

Loser: Mason Mount

Lampard started with the four forwards who cast a spell on Southampton over the weekend, however it ended as there was something about their connection that deserved another look, but with momentum being everything in football, the keepers needed a acting or hoping for limited playtime with equally capable people. players – like summer recruit Hakim Ziyech – nibbling around a bit.

Of the quartet it was Mason Mount, who really broke through at Bridge last season, who lost a beat. Receiving a yellow card for his troubles, the youngster from England often found it difficult when testing his wits against the wily veteran Jesús Navas and was eventually replaced by the aforementioned Moroccan playmaker just after the hour mark.



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