Here is our exclusive Chelsea vs Rennes Tactical Review. Chelsea faced Stade Rennes in the UCL Group E fixture at Samford Bridge. Chelsea registered a comfortable 3-0 victory against the Ligue 1 side courtesy of Timmo Werner’s couple of strikes from the penalty spot and Tammy Abraham’s goal in the second half. The match was pretty onesided with glimpses of Rennes attacking in certain phases of the match. Without further ado, let’s jump into the tactical breakdown of Chelsea vs Rennes.
Chelsea vs Rennes Tactical Review: Lineups of both teams
Now in this Chelsea vs Rennes Tactical Review, we will see how both the teams lined up for this UCL Group E clash.
Chelsea
On paper, Chelsea lined up in a 4-3-3 formation. Though with possession it changed to a 4-2-3-1 and 3-2-3-2 in the attacking phase with one of the fullbacks (mostly Chilwell) joining the attack. On defensive phase, it became 4-5-1 with only Tammy Abraham staying upfront.
Rennais
On paper, Rennes lined up in a 4-1-4-1. In the buildup phase, they were using a 4-3-3 shape. This switched to a 3-4-3 shape in the opponent half with Stephen N Zonzi dropping in between two centrebacks. This lets both the fullbacks overlap. In the defensive phase, they used a 5-4-1 shape to block all the spaces in their half.
Chelsea vs Rennes Tactical Review: Buildup and Transitions
As Chelsea got most of the possession for this match we will discuss how they played in this match.
With Possession
With possession Chelsea shaped in a 4-2-3-1. Mason Mount pushed up in the zone 14 areas from his central midfield position. Lampard used the trio of Mount Zyach and Werner in free roles. They constantly interchanged positions among themselves making it hard for Rennais central mids and defenders to cover them. Chelsea looked to play out from the back. Among their two fullbacks, Reece James played in the defensive role.
He formed the three-man backline with Zouma and Thiago Silva. Ben Chilwell, on the other hand, overlapped and provided the necessary width in the left flank. This let the attacking mid trio operate in the half-space of the left flank create a 2v1 or 2v2 situation in the left flank. the right flank is mainly operated by any of the wingers who provided low crosses and cutins from that side of the pitch.
This resulted in the first penalty for Chelsea. Sometimes Reece James also pushed forward especially after the first goal of Chelsea. In that time either Kante or Jorginho dropped in front of two centre backs to provide defensive stability
Without Possession
Without possession, Chelsea used a 4-4-2 shape in opponent half. They looked to maintain their shape instead pf pressing high. When the ball was in opponent half Tammy and Werner covered Rennais central mids. When the ball moved to Chelsea half Werner dropped to support the fullbacks. Kante and Jorginho marked the central midfield area providing no space to create. The crosses from the flanks were easily dealt with by the two strong central defenders.
Rennes
With possession
With possession, Rennes also looked to play out from the back. They invited Chelsea to press them high and used the space left behind to attack. But this often backfired as they lost the ball often in front of the high press. They used one-touch passing to avoid the Chelsea press.
The main onus is to provide crosses from the flanks for the strikers. They mostly used the right flank to attack as there was space in that area behind Chilwell. They were successful in this regard but their forwards put on a dreadful show keeping only two of the six shots on targets. Chelsea defenders mostly cleared their crosses. After the first goal, they looked to return in the match for some time but with the red card of Dalbert Chelsea again took the control of the match
Without Possesion
Without possession, Rennes looked to defend in 5-4-1-0 shape. Guirassay also dropped below the half-line to support the defense. he tried to create a blockage in the central midfield area and hamper Chelsea’s ball movement. Rennes created a low block in the central channel and tried to isolate Tammy from the midfield. They tried to stretch Chelsea’s attack.
This plan was successful as Chelsea haven’t created many chances from open play in the first quarter of the first half. But their defensive organization broke with the red card of their right back as Chelsea got free spaces in their half and there was nothing much that can be done.
Conclusion
As expected Chelsea dominated the whole game except for certain parts of the match. They performed extremely well in each and every sector of the match. This win took Chelsea to the top of Group E overtaking Sevilla by goal difference and almost confirmed their qualification. On the other hand, there was nothing much positive for Rennais in this tie. They now are currently last in their group behind Krasnodar by goal difference.
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