Mendy’s horror show against Real Madrid sums up Chelsea’s recent decline
Chelsea fans are unlikely to see a worse week than what they’ve witnessed in the last five days. Consecutive defeats in the Premier League and in Europe are a rarity for a club of their stature.
When the Blues were battered 4-1 by Brentford at the weekend, many considered it a one-off and expected Chelsea to bounce back almost immediately.
However, Thomas Tuchel’s side displayed yet another shocking performance when they faced Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
Rather than return to winning ways, the Blues did not come to the party at all, allowing a Karim Benzema-inspired Real Madrid to take a 3-1 win back to Spain.
@muhammadbutt Goals conceded in his first seven #UCL games this season: ⚽️⚽️
Goals conceded against Karim Benzema: ⚽️⚽️⚽️
Edouard Mendy had a night to forget at Stamford Bridge. #UCL https://t.co/bAzbs2yDIl
Mendy horror show
This was always going to be a game that needed each team’s best players to step up. But while Benzema rose to the occasion with a sensational hat-trick, Edouard Mendy struggled for much of the game.
The Senegalese goalkeeper has been one of the Blues’ most dependable lieutenants. However, he was completely off-colour on Wednesday, making one mistake after another.
There may have been very little he could’ve done about Benzema’s first two goals, but he was culpable for the Frenchman’s third – the goal that ultimately put the game beyond Chelsea’s reach. The Senegalese was not convincing in initiating play from the back.
Mendy’s weak pass to Antonio Rudiger allowed Benzema to intercept before rolling the ball into an empty net. The Blues shot-stopper clearly wasn’t at his best, but he wasn’t the only one who was below-par. His performance only mirrored the team’s recent decline.
The last six goals scored at Stamford Bridge:
50' ⚽️ Brentford
54' ⚽️ Brentford
60' ⚽️ Brentford
87' ⚽️ Brentford
21' ⚽️ Real Madrid
24' ⚽️ Real Madrid
Two nightmare halves of football for Thomas Tuchel. https://t.co/9OSi1tFj3a
Chelsea’s recent form worrying
Chelsea have now conceded a whopping seven goals in their last two matches alone and it doesn’t get worse than that.
The defensive solidity that characterized Tuchel’s time in charge of the Blues has completely faded in recent weeks, with the team conceding goals cheaply.
Even worse, they looked clueless in possession and lacked the intensity that saw them get the better of many teams in the past.
Tuchel admitted, as quoted by Chelseafc.com;
“Everything went wrong in the first half. It was not only about when we pass, how we pass. It was also the intensity in challenges and the desire,”
“In the second half I think we had 16 shots to one shot. You can always come back and equalise but if you concede again after 48 minutes it is harder and harder. Still, we had chances in the second half to make it 3-2 and this could have been crucial but not today.’
“We have to find our level back. I don’t know where it is since the international break but the first half today was a repetition of the second half against Brentford.”
Indeed, Chelsea’s poor performance against Real Madrid was no different from how they played against Brentford a few days earlier. Their current form is very worrying, especially for a side still fighting for a top-four place in the Premier League and a semi-finals spot in the Champions League.