Shots on target: 2. Goals: 1. Possession: 66%. Level of boringness: 100%. That would be a summary for tonight’s Chelsea debut in the new Champions League season. The defending champions were hosts to the Russian Zenit, whose firm defensive and tactical display turned Chelsea’s game into one of the most boring ever.14 – Only Robert Lewandowski (21), Erling Haaland (20) and Bruno Fernandes (17) have scored more goals than Romelu Lukaku (14) in major European competition since the start of 2019-20. Rise. pic.twitter.com/8wEzRvLJEJ— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 14, 2021 In a game after which with only Thomas Tuchel will be happy (and he’ll maybe watch it again tonight before bed), while even Roman Abramovich probably fell asleep in the sofa after 20 minutes, the Blues came away with three points, and that was it. The Russian knew they had no chance of scoring against this Chelsea team, so they opted for the „kill the game, park the bus“ tactics, and they did it in the best possible Mourinho/Allardyce way. And considering that Tuchel’s tactics is not the most pleasant to watch anyway, this game needed an individual quality to bring three points. And that is why Romelu Lukaku was paid heavily and brought back to Stamford Bridge. The Belgian international used a fantastic Azpilicueta cross to rise above two Zenit players and put the ball into the net in the 69th minute. The hard earned win almost slipped away in the dying minutes of the match, but Artem Dzyuba failed to convert at the far post. In two week’s time, Chelsea will travel to Turin to face their toughest opponent in the group – Juventus.CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – GROUP STAGE – ROUND 1Young Boys – Man.Utd. 2-1 (0-1)/Ngamaleu 66, Siebatcheu 90+5 – Ronaldo 13/Sevilla – Salzburg 1-1 (1-1)/Rakitic (p) 42 – Susic 21/Barcelona – Bayern 0-3 (0-1)/Muller 34, Lewandowski 56,85/Dynamo Kyiv – Benfica 0-0 (0-0)Villareal – Atalanta 2-2 (1-1)/Trigueros 39, Danjuma 73 – Freuler 6, Gosens 83/Lille – Wolfsburg 0-0Chelsea – Zenit 1-0 (0-0)/Lukaku 69/Malmo – Juventus 0-3 (0-1)/Sandro 23, Dybala 45, Morata 45+1/WEDNESDAY:Wed 19.45: (5.40) Besiktas (4.00) Dortmund (1.62)Wed 19.45: (4.30) Sheriff Tiraspol (3.50) Shakhtar (1.88)Wed 22.00: (13.0) Club Brugge (6.50) PSG (1.22)Wed 22.00: (1.35) Man.City (5.30) RB Leipzig (8.00)Wed 22.00: (1.65) Atl.Madrid (3.60) Porto (6.00)Wed 22.00: (1.60) Liverpool (4.00) Milan (5.70)Wed 22.00: (2.85) Sporting (3.30) Ajax (2.50)Wed 22.00: (2.55) Inter (3.30) Real Madrid (2.75)
