Can Chelsea replicate Dortmund's success against Bayern?

Making the playing area compact takes a lot of energy from the midfielders and wing backs, especially since Bayern’s main attacking threat comes from the feet of their wide men, Ribery and Robben. That is why we regularly see such high distance covered numbers for Dortmund’s players, the question is now whether Chelsea‘s players can boost similar numbers. For the match against Barcelona, Chelsea’s running numbers pale in comparison to those of Dortmund, once again showing the vast difference in tactics adopted by the two clubs.

The only occasion where we can see similar numbers is from Chelsea’s fine 3-0 win over Valencia in their last group stage match, during which Meireles (out of the final) covered a superb 13.1 KM’s while Juan Mata ran almost 11 Km’s in just 83 minutes of action. The problem for Chelsea comes when we look at the figures for the other players. Romeru’s 11.7 and Ramies + Mikel’s 11.8 are decent, but where the real worry comes from is from the figures of Sturridge, 10.6, and Cole, 10.3 who will have to work much harder in order match the Dortmund players and pin down Ribery and Robben. Sturridge’s low work rate could lead him to being replaced by Saloman Kalou, a player who is known to be more hard working. Chelsea’s ability in attack: Long ball vs Dortmund’s quick passing.Didier Drogba’s form has been instrumental in Chelsea’s charge towards the final, and he will most likely be extremely important for Chelsea in the final. Using a player like Drogba with a largely defensive mindset, renders Chelsea’s attacking game to be different from that used by Dortmund during their meetings with Bayern. But that’s not to say that the tactics won’t be more effective. With center back Holger Badstuber suspended for the final and Daniel Van Buyten not playing competitively since January, and fighting against time, to be fit for the final. It looks very likely that the 5′ 11 Tymoshchuk will be playing center back, alongside Jerome Boateng, and that indicates an aerial weakness for Drogba to exploit. We had seen Drogba try the same against Mascherano, but the problem arose as Chelsea’s long balls were not accurate enough on most occasions, ironically it took a quick passing move to break down the Catalans in both legs. Even then, this is definitely an area where Chelsea can hold a strong advantage.

In regards to the question as to whether, Chelsea can try to replicate the quick passing moment of Dortmund, the answer is a negative. Chelsea have scored just two goals categorized as ‘counter attack’ compared to Dortmund’s 11, which shows the vast disparity between the two. Chelsea will also be lacking the running ability of Ramires and Meireles in the center, both of whom could’ve been very effective for launching quick counter attacks through middle where Bayern Munich will be vulnerable. Juan Mata will be a vital weapon in attack, but will have to display the energy he showed against Valencia, and not the completely defensive attitude shown against Barcelona.What will happen in the end?The article does present a gloomy picture for Chelsea. While Chelsea can boast that they’ve just knocked out one of the greatest sides in the history of the sport, the host of absentees, especially that of Ramires and Meireles, means that they are significantly weaker without the two players. Scoring three goals against Barcelona, given their complete lack of possession is impressive, but one has to remember that Ramires was at the heart of the two goals and without him, it is a huge loss for Chelsea. The season has shown that neither Lampard, Mikel or Essien can recreate that energy. So offensively Chelsea are down a vital man, defensively they will be coming across a slightly different type of team than that of Barcelona, different only on the flanks. Ribery and Robben are much more direct players in comparison to players like Iniesta and Fabregas, and therefore dealing with them will require a different set of tactics. Dortmund have shown how it’s done over their past five meetings with Bayern, but Chelsea will have a problem recreating those tactics due the lack of players willing to put in the miles required to complete the job. This is football after all, anything can happen at the end of the day. Bayern Munich have lost nine times this season, again only two at home, so they can have a bit of a bad day while Chelsea’s players will have a lot riding on this match since this is their last hope for a spot in the Champions League for next season. So we might see a performance beyond the odds from them. *Distance covered statistics for Bundesliga matches taken from www.bundesliga.de. Distance covered statistics for UEFA Champions League matches taken from uefa.com. After looking at a few matches, it does seem that UEFA’s stats can be slight overstated. **All other stats have been taken from www.whoscored.com