Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich, ICC: Half-time report

As positive as the vibes were after the Arsenal win, they’re just as negative now after a rather poor 45 minutes against the Champions of Germany by the Champions of England. Chelsea’s defense and midfield have been repeatedly carved open and played around and behind by a motivated-looking Bayern no doubt looking to put their own horror-show of a 4-0 defeat to AC Milan firmly in the rear view.

The onslaught started early, with a lucky shot from Rafinha pinging in from the far post. That fact that he wasn’t closed down would be a theme repeated many times through the first half.

Another theme prevalent in the first half was midfield turnovers and Chelsea getting subsequently caught out. Here’s Bayern carving open Chelsea for their second.

Muller added another after he was allowed to run unabated from the half-way line.

Just as against Arsenal, Chelsea improved markedly after the water break on the half-hour, stringing together a few positive attacking moves, the last of which saw the ball run to Marcos Alonso, who took his frustrations out on it and slammed it into the back of the Bayern net.

More concerning than the scoreline has been Chelsea’s general effort, disorganization, and inability to cope with Bayern in most phases of the game. Something for Conte to deal with and correct then.