Chelsea vs Benfica Review.

938 days after their last CL win at the Bridge against Dortmund, the Blues sniffed for blood, went for the jugular and then watched carefully as Benfica bled out slowly. It was a win Mourinho himself would have been proud of.

Benfica did not make things difficult, but they did not make them easier either. By the 21st minute, they had fluffed three gilt-edged openings worth a valuable 0.45 xG. Before Pavlidis wasted the 3rd, Pedro Neto conjured up an excellent ball to the far post, and Alejandro Garnacho timed his run superbly to guide the ball into the corridor of uncertainty, where the unfortunate Rios was helpless from stopping it crash off him into the net. While it wouldn’t be unfair to call it lucky, the panic and anxiety had been building in the Benfica backline.

A strong high press saw Benfica struggle to breathe on the ball - Facundo Buonanotte, starting his first ever CL game, stayed tight on his Argentinian compatriot and Benfica’s deep progressor Barrenechea to stifle their build up. The largely reliable Anatoli Trubin felt the nerves too with a wonky touch that almost rolled into his own goal. With Chelsea grabbing 66% of the ball in the first half, Mourinho must have demanded his players turn a comfortable sparring match into an ugly scrap.

After making just 3 tackles in the first half, Benfica put in 10 in the 2nd half. The yellow card count quadrupled from 1 to 4. But Chelsea were in no mood to respond to provocations. Possession dropped to 45%. Only 3 shots came in the 2nd 45. Tackles went from 9 to a staggering 22. Enzo and Caicedo, both struggling for fitness in what has been a gruelling season, competed in a combined 29 ground duels. After meek surrenders in the past 3 games, this was Chelsea’s engine room switching to reserve power, digging deep and radiating qualities Mourinho etched into Chelsea’s identity throughout his first tenure.

Spare a thought for Enzo Maresca. His squad is down not to bare bones but to frayed tendons and marrow - Joao Pedro’s 2nd yellow and sending off forcing Maresca to play with a man short for the 3rd time in nine games this season, the same number he had to manage in 50 games last season before the CWC. Only he knows if starting Tyrique George repeatedly at CF despite multiple failings is quiet rebellion or just plain stubbornness, but trusting multiple CL debutants in a must-win game is the kind of act that can appear utterly foolish or ridiculously brave depending on the scoreline.

Jamie Gittens’ cameo proved why he hasn’t been seeing minutes, while Buonanotte was above expectations (there were no expectations from him in the first place.) Joao Pedro has accumulated as many red cards in September as he has shots, but his suspension still makes the frontline vs Ajax seem like a horror-comedy waiting to happen. Maresca seemed quite buoyed in the post-presser despite losing his only fit 9 and confirming that Andrey Santos will be out until after the international break. A first clean-sheet in a month, finally winning with 10 men, and a Liverpool defeat against Galatasaray in Turkey just three days before a showdown are the kind of good omens that have been missing all September. With CL campaign now back on track, it is time to do the same in the PL.