Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League to Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 of the competition. Manager Jose Mourinho admitted the French Ligue 1 leaders deserved the win, and he was certainly right based on the 120 minutes of football played, but is Mourinho’s negative approach the reason for Chelsea’s failure in the competition?
The highly-successful boss has had five cracks at the whip with Chelsea in two stints at the London, but hasn’t managed to win the Champions League. Roberto Di Matteo achieved European success with the Blues in his first nine weeks at the club, while interim manager Rafael Benitez won the Europa League in his temporary spell at Stamford Bridge a year later, so what is Mourinho getting wrong?
Against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea were very defensive and tentative in possession despite having a man advantage following Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s sending off early in the first-half. Mourinho seemed to be more cautious at the risk of conceding rather than going for the kill, which is something that separates him from a lot of managers.
The Blues boss has a penchant for settling for draws against elite clubs away from home, and in the Champions League latter stages, the Premier League outfit did exactly that. Chelsea scraped a 1-1 draw against the Parisians at the Parc des Princes, with the view that they would win or play out a scoreless draw at home. It’s a risky tactic playing to not concede when your opponents have the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani in their attack.
However, it did lead to Mourinho earning Champions League success on two occasions before with Porto and Inter Milan. It’s been five years since the Portuguese coach last won the competition, however, and it’s certainly something that will play on his mind. Many felt he had the perfect side at Chelsea to achieve his goals, but he failed to get the best from them on the grand scale. So how did Chelsea fall short?
They boast incredible talented individuals all through the team. In Eden Hazard, they have a Ballon d’Or winner in the making, while Cesc Fabregas is regarded as one of the best playmakers in the world. They have a top-three goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois, and also boast one of the strongest backlines in Europe. So is it the negative approach that is hampering what should be an offensive team? Is Mourinho’s approach to blame? He’s failed five times with Chelsea, while others have succeeded in considerably less time. Coincidence?
