Azpilicueta had a massive headache thinking about Chalobah's defending just moments earlier. He had been fully focused on marking Díaz precisely so Chalobah could concentrate on Leo without any distractions.
Yet when he turned around, he found Chalobah doing exactly the same thing he was, staring intently at Díaz without paying the slightest attention to Leo.
Leo seemed to have noticed Chalobah's weakness in defense, so he continued looking for opportunities around him. As Liverpool launched attack after attack, Leo became increasingly certain that Chalobah had a real problem keeping track of his man.
Chalobah was young, and playing in an EFL Cup final seemed to have made him extremely nervous. The more nervous he became, the easier it was for him to lose his man.
Szoboszlai also began targeting Chalobah, and Liverpool quickly reached an unspoken understanding. Chalobah would be the main point they attacked.
Tuchel kept shouting from the touchline for everyone to help Chalobah whenever possible, but in a three-center-back system, if one center back ran into trouble, the other two were inevitably affected.
Thiago Silva no longer knew whether he should go over and help Chalobah.
Marking Leo was already putting him under enormous pressure. If he also had to cover for Chalobah while dealing with Leo, things would only become even harder.
Édouard Mendy was even more tense. He not only had to worry about Leo's shots now, but also about whatever threat Chalobah might accidentally pose to his own goal.
Moments like this were a true test of a player. If Chalobah could adapt and grow during this match, he could develop into an outstanding center back.
But if he failed to adjust, he could remain stuck in poor form for a long time afterward, and might even lose part of his potential because of it.
26th minute!
Leo ran toward Chalobah with a smile, while Kanté kept pestering him, trying to stop him from moving into Chalobah's area.
But whenever Kanté dropped deeper, Mac Allister carried the ball forward. The moment Kanté turned back to deal with Mac Allister, the ball would be passed to Rodri, who would continue advancing with it.
Liverpool kept pushing the ball forward this way until Kovačić suddenly realized he had already retreated all the way to the edge of the penalty area. By then, the space available to Chalobah and Kanté had been squeezed down considerably.
Defenders needed space too, just like attackers. Without enough room to defend, it was difficult to make an effective defensive play.
Kanté was smart and extremely experienced defensively. He immediately charged toward Mac Allister and had Kovačić pick up Rodri instead.
Azpilicueta dropped into midfield and joined Alonso in marking Leo. That was the best solution available.
But Rodri immediately sent the ball out wide.
With Alonso no longer tying him down, Salah was once again left one-on-one against Rüdiger.
Rüdiger did not dare step forward this time, while Thiago Silva did not dare leave his position to help him. The two players were left facing each other on the wing.
Salah wanted to break past him, but Rüdiger pressed his head against Salah's body.
Salah glanced toward the middle twice and still could not see Leo. That was enough for him to know exactly where Leo would appear next.
So Salah went for the breakthrough.
With Rüdiger's head pressed against him, Salah leaned backward, forcing Rüdiger back with his body as he turned.
With his head being pushed back, Rüdiger had no choice but to retreat.
After giving up two full steps, however, he could retreat no farther. The dangerous area was directly behind him.
Rüdiger finally stepped in.
He stuck out a leg, but not all the way. Taking advantage of his long reach, he gradually edged his leg across, trying to block Salah's path.
Salah did not have the same reach, but he was much more agile.
Keeping the ball under his left foot, Salah watched Rüdiger extend his leg, then suddenly knocked the ball around the back of him while sprinting past Rüdiger on the other side.
Rüdiger had been watching the ball and failed to notice which way Salah had gone. His long leg caught neither the ball nor Salah.
Thiago Silva hurried over to confront Salah.
At that moment, Leo moved into position to support him.
Standing in the middle of the penalty area with Kanté still beside him, Leo turned his body sideways and used his position to protect his advantage. Salah played the ball into him, and Leo immediately returned it into the space behind Thiago Silva.
The instant Leo released the pass, Salah was already alongside Thiago Silva.
Both players stretched out a foot for the ball at the same time.
Salah got there first, but his touch was poor. Thiago Silva failed to make contact, but he had the better position.
Each of them held an advantage in one area, and neither could completely win the ball.
Édouard Mendy rushed off his line and sprinted forward to clear it away, finally stopping Liverpool from creating another goal.
"Excellent clearance from Édouard Mendy! Salah and Thiago Silva were fighting hard for that ball!"
"Chelsea are still being constantly pulled around by Liverpool's attackers. Every time Leo gets into Chelsea's penalty area, he creates danger. Salah and Szoboszlai are attacking around him, while Díaz keeps Azpilicueta occupied and also disrupts Chalobah's decision-making!"
Tuchel was getting anxious.
Kovačić was not as strong defensively as Kanté, which meant the responsibility of marking Leo largely fell on Kanté alone.
Pulisic and Mount had barely had any attacking opportunities for quite some time, but neither of them was particularly good at choosing when to track back either. They were playing as attacking midfielders. They obviously could not spend the entire match dropping deep like defensive midfielders.
That meant Chelsea usually had only Kanté dealing with Leo.
Against almost anyone else, Kanté alone would have been enough.
But this was Leo.
"Normally, Kanté can handle most players by himself with room to spare. He can even split his attention and help his teammates cover other opponents. But against Leo, Kanté alone clearly isn't enough."
"Instead of using two attacking midfielders, Tuchel would be better off taking one of them off and bringing on another midfielder or a fullback. That would give Chelsea enough numbers to protect their own half. Only when the defense is secure can the players up front actually focus on attacking!"
Liverpool's defense, on the other hand, had been solid enough.
Gvardiol looked more comfortable as the match went on. Alexander-Arnold still had problems defensively, but he had improved a lot compared to before, and he was actually doing a decent job against Mount.
Chelsea fans could not smile.
They simply could not.
"I hate those huge contracts Liverpool keep giving Lin. Those are exactly why he never leaves Liverpool!"
"Didn't Tuchel say Chelsea were showing more title-contending form than Liverpool? Because I haven't seen any of it."
"So this is what 'title-contending form' means? Sitting there in a final, taking everything your opponent throws at you, feeling how strong they are, and then losing? Tuchel, if this isn't working out, maybe you should just go back to coaching Tottenham."
...
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