April 21, 2023 - UEFA Women’s Champions League 2023
Score: Chelsea 1 - Lyon 1 (4-3 on Penalties)
Since the professionalization of Europe’s top women’s clubs, the Champions League has consistently presented quality, intense, and competitive matches. Chelsea’s second leg tie against Lyon takes them to the semi-finals to face a ruthless and dominant Barcelona. This article looks back on how Chelsea did not have to win their second leg to defeat Lyon.
The game started off with a flurry of chances for Lyon. One of these chances fell to Danish striker Signe Bruun, who should have made the scoreline 1-0 Lyon within five minutes. Chelsea’s Sam Kerr grabbed the next opportunity of the game, launching the ball straight into goalkeeper Christiane Endler. The momentum stayed with Chelsea until two injuries in quick succession marked a turning point in the match. Melanie Leupolz was the first to leave the pitch after suffering a broken nose. Eve Perisset was subbed off shortly after with bruised ribs.
In the 77th minute, center back Vanessa Gilles slipped the ball inside the near post between Magdalena Eriksson and Ann-Katrin Berger. This pulled Lyon to a 1-0 lead, tying the score on aggregate. The game would go to 120 minutes. Sara Däbritz scored Lyon’s second of the night in the 110th minute after three Chelsea players failed to clear. In the 122nd minute, Vicki Becho tripped Lauren James in the Lyon box. After a lengthy VAR-led decision, Chelsea was awarded a penalty. It would take until the 128th minute for the penalty to be converted by Maren Mjelde.
The game was taken to penalties. Wendie Renard and Lauren James missed, leveling the score at 3-3. Jess Carter smashed her penalty home while Lindsey Horan faced an insurmountable wall in Berger. Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties.
Jess Carter’s individual defensive qualities made her an ideal candidate to play against Delphine Cascarino. Wide areas were heavily targeted in transition by Lyon throughout the match. This was especially prevalent in the opening 15 minutes with Cascarino finding space behind Carter. Cascarino is both a main outlet to score and the main provider to Signe Bruun. Luckily for Chelsea, Carter found her balance in the first half between marking Cascarino and pushing forward. Without a defensive minded partner in Guro Reiten down the left flank, Carter was certainly given the harder task out of the two fullbacks.
On the right wing, having the rotation of Eve Perisset, Niamh Charles, and Lauren James was extremely useful in defense. James, although listed as an attacking midfielder, played as a second striker. This created a front two in possession and a front four off the ball. Once Chelsea lost possession, James and Kerr settled in a mid block press. Chelsea pressed in a system that was flexible to the movements of Lyon. If Kerr or James could win the ball, they pressed higher. Otherwise, Kerr and James maintained their shape to force Lyon into Chelsea’s press. Both Charles and Reiten waited in the center of the field before marking Lyon’s outside backs. This makes sure there are no passing lanes towards the center of the field while simultaneously defending Lyon’s build-up through their outside backs. Lyon rely heavily on overlapping fullbacks to get crosses into the box. Further back, Melanie Leupolz marks Egurrola to prevent distribution.
When Leupolz went off, Chelsea’s seamless rotation was lost. Lyon was able to find gaps in wider areas due to the lack of coverage by Chelsea. This is dangerous due to the number of Lyon players that bombard the box on crosses through late midfield runs. Ada Hegerberg, substituted at the half, is dangerous on crosses.
At the heart of Chelsea’s defensive play against Lyon was the double pivot of Melanie Leupolz and Erin Cuthbert. Cuthbert played a deeper role, cleaning up loose balls and covering teammates in wide areas. Leupolz was tasked with preventing any Lyon build-up through the center of the field and occasionally covering wide areas. Leupolz was a primary component in Chelsea’s press. This setup provided Chelsea with the defensive security to execute their transitional play in addition to marking the Lyon fullbacks.
This defensive cleanup proved to be more intense than was perhaps intended. However, both Leupolz and Cuthbert are intense players. Both are hard-working, running everywhere and anywhere to make a tackle. Neither are afraid of a challenge, even if it results in a broken nose. This is necessary against a team as physically adept and clever as Lyon. With a lack of regulations from the referee, this intensity persisted for the entirety of the 120 minutes. Chelsea was forced to substitute out both Melanie Leupolz and Eve Perisset due to injury.
Throughout the first half, Damaris Egurrola was easily marked out of the match by Leupolz and Cuthbert. After Sara Däbritz replaced Egurrola, a double pivot of Däbritz and Lindsey Horan allowed for movement within central areas to more easily bypass Chelsea’s central press. Both midfielders dropped into half spaces to receive balls from their center backs or one another. If Lyon could not build-up through their fullbacks, they had to dominate in midfield.