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Scored: Giroud (8, 54, 74, 83 pens)
From the 2015/16 season until now, Chelsea have never reached matchday eight of the Champions League as the leading team. But the waiting time for this achievement from Sevilla is longer: for the last 11 years, La Liga representatives have never finished the group stage of the Champions League at No. 1.
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In terms of form, Sevilla entered the “Group E final” with Chelsea with 5 consecutive victories. But the Blues are even more impressive: 11 consecutive games unbeaten in all competitions. In addition to the attackers continuing to play effectively, the defense is becoming more and more reliable and trustworthy. It should be remembered that the defense has caused coach Frank Lampard to “scratch his head” for a long time.
Since Southampton’s 3-3 draw on October 17, Chelsea have played a total of 9 matches in all competitions and only had to concede 2 goals. Last weekend, a 0-0 draw with Tottenham cut off the Blues’ 6 straight wins, but the team’s defense still played brilliantly.
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| Chelsea match table |
This is also the time when Chelsea is strongest when there are no major players injured. While Sevilla lost some key staff members due to Covid-19 and injury.
However, history has shown that Chelsea are relatively afraid of Spanish teams: they won only 1/10 of the last match against representatives of La Liga on the European playing field (the only victory was against Atlético de Madrid in 2017.) .
On the other hand, Sevilla are undefeated in the last 7 games against representatives of the Premier League in Europe (3 wins). The English club closest to defeating Sevilla was Leicester in the 2016/17 season.
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| Sevilla starting list |
Due to the abundant and powerful force, in addition to having a ticket to attend the eighth round anyway, against Sevilla, coach Frank Lampard replaced 9 positions in the starting lineup compared to the last game (Tottenham draw 0- 0 ). Specifically, only goalkeeper Mendy and midfielder Kovacic keep the main stone pace.
The tallest player in attack is the “old still on sale” forward Giroud. Supported next is the trio of Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic and Kai Havertz, the expensive contract that is expected to be very big this season, but the performance is not adequate. Jorginho vs Azpilicueta, two of Chelsea’s once “invulnerable” pillars, have a chance to show they don’t deserve a “strategic reserve”.
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| Giroud opened the match score |
The Blues came in better and took just over 7 minutes to take the lead. Kai Havertz pushed the ball gently into the 16m50 area for Giroud to handle very well and then cut his left foot into the high corner, giving opponent Alfonso Pastor no chance (replacing Vaclik just before the ball rolled).
The last goal was the seventh after the French forward’s last 7 away shots in the Champions League arena. Sevilla, led, must find a way to attack to equalize.
In the 19th minute a messy situation occurred in Chelsea’s penalty area and the home team took 2-3 consecutive shots but failed to score. In it, Sevilla said that the ball was hit by Christensen, but after consulting the VAR team, the referee said no at 11m.
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| Pulisic played aggressively but it was too personal in the first half |
In the 27th minute, Pulisic decided to catch the ball to break Sevilla’s 16’50 from the center of the field and finished off with a left foot that Pastor denied. It seems that Pulisic is too eager to score points with Mr. Lampard, but he also has some other failed personal management situations, but if the American player chooses a solution to coordinate with his teammates, the ability to score is greater. a lot.
In addition, Pulisic in the 38th minute almost made Chelsea suffer 11 meters. Not that in the return to support his teammates in a situation of lack of Rakitic, the 1998 midfielder let the ball touch. Song again the referee refused to blow the penalty. In fact, Pulisic was unintentional and had his hands closed.
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| It was still Giroud who increased the score to 2-0 |
A bad game for the former Dortmund player ended with a yellow card after a lack of control with Oscar Rodríguez.
Sevilla’s first chance in the second half was for Sevilla when, from the right wing, old General Jesús Navas passed Gudelj inside to move his outstretched foot but the ball flew over the crossbar.
However, in the 54th minute, the home team had to concede a second goal. Midfielder Kovacic showed great tactical vision to create a favorable tectonic phase for Giroud to escape into deep cover before launching the shot to defeat the note. opposing goalkeeper.
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| Sevilla did everything they could, but not even a goal of honor that was won |
It wasn’t until the 67th minute that coach Frank Lampard used the forehand to make a change when three consecutive heads played quite frequently during the past period, including Kante, Mount and Ziyech entering the field. At the first touch of the ball, Mason Mount brings little more the third goal for Chelsea if the opponent does not play well.
Today is definitely Oliver Giroud’s day. In the 74th minute, the 1986-born forward moved into the space between the two center-backs to catch a Kante cross on the right wing and shook his head gently but dangerously enough to defeat Pastor.
The latest table saw Giroud go down in Champions League history as the oldest player (34 years and 64 days) to score a hat-trick (3 or more goals) in a match. If you include the old version of the European Cup, Giroud is only younger than the mythical Real Madrid, Ferenc Puskas (38 years and 173 days in 1965) when he made a hat-trick.
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| Kante helps Giroud score the third goal |
However, Giroud’s great performance didn’t stop here. In the 82nd minute, Gómez fouled Giroud quite hard in the 16m50 area and the referee immediately signaled the penalty. The No. 18 forward was also given the responsibility of kicking 11 meters and easily managed to complete a poker shot unprecedented in his career.
Furthermore, Giroud became the first Chelsea player to score 4 goals in a match at the C1 / Champions League stadium. Since 2010, after the achievements of … Frank Lampard (against Aston Villa), there has been a new Giroud to prepare the poker for the Blues.
Immediately after celebrating the fourth goal, Giroud left the field to make room for Timo Werner. After 86 minutes, the referee came out to see a situation in Sevilla’s 16m50 area, but luckily for the home team, the referee did not blow 11m this time.
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| Giroud happily left the field after finishing the poker |
The rest of the time, neither team wanted to play, so the match was stopped at 0-4 for Chelsea. Coach and coach Frank Lampard probably played the best game since the beginning of the season, although he didn’t need to pitch to the strongest team. This victory also officially helped Chelsea finish the group stage with the number one spot in Group E, although there is still one more match to go.
Currently, they are 3 points ahead of Sevilla and are superior in confrontation (1 win, 1 draw), so even if both teams have the same points after the last match (Chelsea lost, Sevilla won), the Blues are still standing. .
TEAM
SEVILLA (4-3-3): Alfonso Pastor; Jesus Navas (Kounde 60 ‘), Sergi Gomez, Diego Carlos, Karim Rekik; Ivan Rakitic (Oliver Torres 75 ‘), Nemanja Gudelj (Jordan 60’), Oscar Rodriguez; Franco Vazquez (Munir El Haddadi 67 ‘), Youssef En-Nesyri (Ocampos 60’), Oussama Idrissi.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Emerson; Mateo Kovacic (Ziyech 67 ‘), Jorginho (Gilmour 85’); Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kai Havertz (Edge 67 ‘), Christian Pulisic (Mount 67’); Olivier Giroud (Timo Werner 84 ‘).
