The Conference League final was a tale of two very distinct halves. Manuel Pellegrini’s team executed their game plan to near perfection in the opening 45 minutes and created a number of dangerous opportunities, while Chelsea were struggling to find any sort of rhythm.
However, Mareska has proven over the past few months to have some excellent tricks up his sleeve in the second half, with Chelsea picking up a lot of points thanks to substitutions and tactical tweaks from the Italian manager.
The first thing to understand from this final is why Chelsea’s offensive shape was not working early on and how Real Betis started the game on top. In possession, Chelsea wanted to create a 3-2-5 shape to build their attacks.
So, when playing out from the back, the first step would see the two centre-backs split wide to form a back three with the goalkeeper, whilst we’d see a more lopsided shape in midfield, with Malagusto moving centrally and Kukurea hugging the touchline.
Then, as Chelsea would move slightly further up the pitch, the shape would be completed with the back three being formed.
Initially, Betis would press Chelsea well. The front three would apply pressure to Chelsea’s back three and would cover the movements of the holding midfielders in the centre. We can see, for example, in this clip from the third minute. Whilst Jorgensen has time to play the ball, all the outfield players are being picked up.
In this case, meaning there is not much space for central progression, and play moves out wide where Chalabar is then closed down. And this more aggressive shape high up the pitch is directly what led to the opener for Betis.
Chelsea play the ball into Malagusto in the center, who is quickly closed down and his pass is intercepted, with Isco finding Ezazuli who finishes the move nicely, exploiting a gap that is left by Chelsea wanting their full-back to invert into a more central position.
Because of these five players being closed down quickly by Betis, it’s also one of the main reasons why Chelsea were so toothless in attack in the first half. In a 3-2-5, this box in the centre is absolutely crucial for the team’s progression.
But there also need to be connections between the wingers and the striker, otherwise it leads to the front line being completely isolated when they receive the ball. Enzo Fernandes and Cole Palmer were the targets between the lines, and they would frequently move out wide to receive the ball in pockets of space either side of the midfield.
Whilst there’s nothing inherently wrong with this progression, because of the high defensive line from Betis and there being little space to push forward, it meant Fernandes and Palmer would have to drop deeper and deeper to receive the ball, eventually isolating the front three in attack.
In fact, if Chelsea were then able to move the ball into the wingers, these players would end up with little support around them. And as Neto and Madueke attempted to dribble inside or find a player on the overlap, it was easy for Betis to defend, and there was little support on the edge of the box.
Furthermore, in the first half, because of Palmer wanting to drop deep to receive the ball, it would then be Malogusto to push ahead and give support on the flank and attack the half space. But generally speaking, the combinations between Neto and Malogusto weren’t able to create much danger. And with Palmer then being in a position far away from the box, it was tough for Chelsea to find a way through.
This high barocenter from Betis often led to Chelsea striker Jackson dropping off the defensive line to receive the ball as well, and Chelsea’s shape would morph into a sort of 3-2-3-2. And whilst this did give Chelsea options between the lines, once again, if play moved forward into the wingers, there weren’t many solutions.
And it was then in these positions where Chelsea would push forward and find it tough to break into the box, where they were then vulnerable to counterattacks from Betis, often picking up the ball and going long directly. A big chance fell for them in the 20th minute after they broke forward, and it’s another mistake from Malogusto at the back who’s beaten by Isalzuli, with Cardozo’s effort narrowly missing the target to make it 2-0.
Chelsea were lucky that the score stayed 1-0 in the first half as Betis did look dangerous when regaining the ball. But Chelsea did slowly start to up the pressure in attack, and were breaking the first press from Betis more successfully. However, there was still the issue of the final pass into the box.
We can see, for example, this move in the 28th minute, with Badia Shiel finding an excellent pass into Fernandes. And as they push forward and the ball moves out wide into Madueke, he decides to push down the line, and it’s a difficult pass to pull off into the centre with not many players pushing forward.
This also highlights another important point of the 3-2-5 offensive shape, and that is that it works best with inverted wingers, as they will move more centrally and try and connect play in a more dangerous position.
With Madueke being left-footed and playing on the left side in the first half, it meant it was difficult for him to connect play on this flank, and would often look to play the ball into the half-space or go down line himself, which would lead to Chelsea being isolated on this flank. And this is something that Enzo Maresca addressed in the second half that we’ll see later on in the video.
Towards the end of the first half we started to see Chelsea gain a bit more territory in possession. And we’re building their attacks further and further up the pitch as Betis would slowly slide into a mid-block shape. This allowed them to get more players into the box on each attack.
And rather than going down the line or looking for runs into the half space, they started to look for more crosses into the centre. Where players from the opposite flank could then push forward.
But it was one simple change from Mareska in the second half that completely turned the tides for Chelsea. In the first half, both in attack and defence, Chelsea were struggling on the right flank. And so it led to Malagusto being replaced by Rhys James. Firstly, it gave them the control they needed at the back to retain possession and slowly gain territorial dominance.
In fact, as mentioned earlier, the vast majority of attacks from Chelsea in the first half were starting from a deeper position. Meaning the players were more stretched out and it was difficult to pack the box. But now they were starting from essentially already inside the opposition’s half. And could find connections between the players more easily.
Secondly, this change allowed players like Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandes to stay much further up the pitch. And form the line of five that is essential for the 3-2-5 to work. This new threat was visible early on from Chelsea. With Rhys James receiving the ball on the edge of the box.
Palmer is in the half space and there are three players ready to attack forward. Betis were clearly struggling in the second half. Their press was becoming less and less effective and Chelsea were controlling the tempo more easily. And it was clear they were getting pretty exhausted. And the space between the defensive line and midfield was getting larger and larger.
Chelsea continued to up the pressure. And the final change that completed their offensive transformation was the introduction of Jadon Sancho-Fernetto. This meant Madueke moved over to his preferred right flank. And now the front five were all in their natural position.
The equaliser came soon after. With Palmer pushing forward and cutting inside. Delivering a pinpoint cross for Fernandes to head past Adrian. The turnaround was complete just a few minutes later. With again Chelsea’s dominance in possession meaning Palmer can receive the ball out wide.
Before skipping past his man and finding Jackson in the box. Two quick counter-attacks saw Chelsea go 3-1 and finally 4-1 up on the night.
To end an impressively successful first season under Enzo Maresca. And it’s safe to say it’s been a roller coaster of a season for Chelsea. Whilst they had an incredibly strong start to the season.
Their form dipped significantly at the start of the new year. And it looked as if they might drop out of the top 5 as teams around them started to gain more points. But credit to Mareska. He was able to get Chelsea back on track late on in the season thanks to some great in-game management.
Picking up a lot of important points with second half changes. And this win in the conference league means Chelsea make history as the first club to win all major European trophies.
But what did you make of this final? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below.
