Jose Mourinho has the blueprint to overcome Real Madrid if Chelsea reach European final

 
Danger: Chelsea will have to cope with the threat of Bale and Ronaldo
Julian Bennetts30 April 2014

It would be ironic if Pep Guardiola’s legacy in this season’s Champions League was to make things easier for his old adversary, Jose Mourinho.

Certainly, Mourinho would not commit any of the errors that the Bayern Munich manager did during his side’s evisceration at the hands of Real Madrid last night.

Real were superb, a class apart, but Bayern were simply naive. If Mourinho’s Chelsea progress past Atletico Madrid in tonight’s second semi-final then Guardiola has provided a blue-print of the tactics to avoid.

In short, Chelsea will have to defend deep, denying Real’s BBC — Bale, Benzema and Cristiano — space to utilise their searing pace, attack the full-backs and brush up on their marking from set-pieces.

Guardiola blamed himself — “the coach didn’t do a good job,” he sighed — and with good reason. His side played into Real’s hands from the off and were sunk within half an hour.

The Spaniard talked afterwards of not having enough possession and control, despite having the ball for 64 per cent of the time. In his moment of weakness he still proclaimed devotion to his doctrine of tiki-taka.

Mourinho is far more pragmatic but so is Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian left Chelsea in 2011 but says he has no mixed feelings about playing his former club if they do vanquish Madrid’s city rivals.

“I don’t know what happens in the next semi-final,” he said. “I think of course Chelsea have a lot of experience for this kind of game.

“On the other side we have a team that are really strong at this moment with a lot of confidence and a lot of strength. It really doesn’t matter who will be the team we play the final against. What is important is one of these teams is Real Madrid.”

A meeting between Chelsea and Real would be a fascinating clash of styles and sub-plots, with the managers facing their former clubs. Both are adept at playing on the break, having triumphed in recent games with less than 40 per cent of possession but Chelsea are not as physically imposing as Madrid.

That said, there is still a feeling — despite two outstanding defensive displays against Bayern — that Madrid are vulnerable.

Left-back Fabio Coentrao is enjoying a renaissance at the Bernabeu but Eden Hazard and, in all probability, Willian, will fancy their chances against the Portuguese and right-back Dani Carvajal, particularly if they are left exposed (and it should be pointed out that Gareth Bale an Angel Di Maria’s tracking back last night was exemplary).

The loss of Xabi Alonso to suspension is also a huge blow for Real. Asier Illarramendi, who it must be remembered cost £30m last summer, is likely to replace him but the partnership between Alonso and Luka Modric in central midfield has been an integral part of Real’s season.

Surprisingly, Chelsea and Real have not played each other since the 1998 European Super Cup. It is fair to say the Blues are a rather different proposition now but Real have just produced perhaps the finest Champions League display since AC Milan beat Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 final.

Yet Mourinho was their manager until last summer. He knows all the flaws and all the characters. If anyone can find a way, he can.

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