Chelsea or Bayern Munich - Who will be Europe's next 'Invincibles'?
Real Madrid began the season badly. Atletico Madrid haven’t been as good as last season. Barcelona have fallen by the wayside in the big fixtures. Borussia Dortmund are keeping their necks just above the relegation swamp. PSG have stuttered without Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Manchester City seems to have fallen into a mini-crisis. Arsenal are playing like they always do, and that isn’t good news for Gooners.
Manchester United is yet to witness the revolution that Louis van Gaal promised to bring. Liverpool are but a pale shadow of the swashbuckling football they played last season. Roma is still reeling from that fateful night at Stadio Olimpico, when they shipped seven goals. Juventus are playing well, but they too have lost.
This leaves us with two teams who couldn’t have been more different from each other – one team which prides itself on playing the beautiful game the beautiful way, leaving opponents, fans and pundits in a daze, and the other playing the best football seen on English shores in well over a decade, with nobody good enough to stand on their way.
Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. The only two unbeaten teams in the continent’s top 5 leagues this season. Will this record stay unblemished for both of them come May? Who is going to be Europe’s next “Invincibles”?
Chelsea (Played 11 – Won 9, Drawn 2)
Strengths
Chelsea’s performances and team composition for most of their games has a Jose Mourinho trademark imprinted on them. This tactical astuteness and sound mentality is present in his team too, making them the best team in England by a long margin.
With the best young goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois guarding the sticks, Chelsea would have been hard to break, even without the presence of that great blue wall of four in front of Courtois. A rejuvenated John Terry, who hasn’t fallen to the maladies of decline that age brings with it, marshals the Chelsea defence with the rock-solid Gary Cahill alongside him. The reliable Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta/Filipe Luis complete a near-impregnable defence.
Ahead of them, Chelsea has probably the best central midfield pairing in the world - Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas. A massive upgrade over Ramires and John Obi Mikel/Frank Lampard Chelsea’s central midfield pivot is the perfect combination of industry, intelligence and innovation. Fabregas is in the form of his life, showing Camp Nou why they were wrong to boo and blame him while Matic seems like the Blues’ successor to Claude Makelele.
They also have a fantastic frontline with the likes of Willian, Oscar and Andre Schurrle – all world-class players. But, what elevates their attack from championship winning stuff to invincibility contenders is the presence of two players who are poles apart in the way they play the game.
In Eden Hazard, the Blues have Europe’s hottest young talent plying his trade at Stamford Bridge. And in Diego Costa, they have an archetypal No.9, who was the bone of contention between two traditional powerhouses, Spain and Brazil. Enough said.
Weaknesses
Many pundits call the current Chelsea team the most likely one to emulate Arsene Wenger’s Invincible Arsenal team of 2003/04. Mainly because the team doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses. It looks complete in every department - the arrivals of Fabregas and Costa have ensured that.
But, if one has to pick out a weakness in the Chelsea squad, the fact that they don’t have a world class back-up striker stands out. If Diego Costa is hit by a serious injury, Chelsea might struggle as an ageing Didier Drogba and a still raw Loic Remy are not good enough to replace the Spaniard. But, they are good enough for most teams in the continent.
Opportunities
Chelsea have already been to the Etihad, Old Trafford, Goodison Park and Anfield this season and has come out unscathed every time. With a relatively easy second half of the season coming up, Chelsea have a huge chance to lift the Premier League title, barring a very unlikely monumental implosion.
All the other contenders from past seasons like Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United are struggling this season without exception. The league title is Chelsea’s to lose. And I don’t see them losing to any of the other 19 teams, however unpredictable the Premier League may be.
Threats
Chelsea, like every other Mourinho team before them, always rise to the occasion in big matches. They ensure the match never slips away when they play against teams of their level, soaking up the pressure, frustrating opponents and hitting them on the counter. Instead, it is against the minnows and bottom table teams that they generally struggle.
Taking the game to the opponents who put up shop in their own half has never been Mourinho’s forte. Last season’s losses to Newcastle United, Stoke City and West Ham only reiterated this further. Mourinho has to ensure that his little horses jump the hurdles of 19th century football without fail this season.
Verdict
Chelsea is well on course to break the 100 point barrier in the Premier League this season. Everything is in place for them to go the season unbeaten. They have to be careful against the banana peel opponents and Mourinho has to rotate his team wisely if they are to sustain this form late into the campaign as well. But on current form, the Blues are well on their way to emulating what their neighbours in the north achieved 11 years ago.
Things don’t look so rosy in Europe though, as Chelsea has struggled against group stage opponents that they are supposed to brush aside. Also, the fact that they have prioritised regaining the league title might work against them in Europe in the latter stages of the season. Expect a semi-final appearance at the very least from them nevertheless.