Conte still depends on Hazard: Five things we learned from Bayern 3-2 Chelsea

In the heat of the Singapore evening, Chelsea were soundly defeated by Bayern Munich despite a couple of strong late rallies.

The Blues fielded a line-up without new signings Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger and Alvaro Morata as well as last season’s favourites David Luiz and Eden Hazard, and as a result were beaten pillar-to-post in a pulsating first half hour from Bayern Munich. Their rallies late in each half gave the final score a respectable look, but in truth Bayern were much better.

What did we learn? Well…

1. Bayern’s right-back spot is up for grabs

Many assumed that, as a response to Philipp Lahm’s retirement, Bayern Munich would enter the market for a right-back. Many more assumed that Bayern would hand the role to Joshua Kimmich, the centre-midfielder who has already succeeded Lahm in the German national team.

And sure, Kimmich will make a solid claim to the role when he joins the Bayern squad this pre-season, but don’t assume it will be a procession. Rafinha is a quality full-back who, thanks to Pep Guardiola’s experiments with Lahm three years ago, played a lot of games and now looks a battle-hardened veteran.

His goal against Chelsea, a superbly placed long range strike, shows the kind of skill he possesses. He doesn’t have an enormous reputation but with a lot of confidence and superb Brazilian technique, Rafinha could provide stiff competition to Kimmich for the role of Philipp Lahm’s heir.

2. Chelsea have no Plan B without Hazard.

It’s alarming just how utterly clueless Chelsea look when Eden Hazard isn’t on the field. Without their talismanic Belgian, the Blues just shuttle the ball around at the back before playing it into midfield. There the Bayern press turns them back and they push it to the wide centre-backs and force through-balls or long balls deep into the Bayern half. Usually these got cut out and the whole dance reset.

Obviously it’s still early in pre-season, but given Hazard is out until probably September and they will have to juggle two or even three competitions during the season and the Belgian has often found playing games more than once a week taxing… it’s troubling that they don’t have a plan B. How will Chelsea cope through the long season if they have to rest Hazard at all? On this evidence, not very well.

3. Franck Ribery’s still got it.

No one benefited from the departure of Pep Guardiola more than Franck Ribery. The Frenchman may be 34 years-old, but he still has the skill and ability (and the pace, surprisingly enough) to torment younger and more athletic defenders. And that has really come to the fore under Carlo Ancelotti.

Today against Chelsea, Ribery was unstoppable. A bobbing and weaving dribbling dynamo. Chelsea couldn’t get near him no matter who they threw his way. The way he left César Azpilicueta flailing to set-up Bayern’s second goal was a thing of beauty. He will need managing through the season and it’s unlikely he could play more than once a week, but used on a reduced schedule Franck Ribery could still be a devastating force down the left for Bayern Munich.

4. Chelsea are in for a rude awakening in the Champions League

Obviously this was early in Chelsea’s pre-season and they weren’t playing David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger at the heart of their back-line nor Tiemoue Bakayoko next to N’Golo Kanté. But the match showed a key weakness Chelsea may well need to address: the massive amounts of space Bayern were able to find ahead of their defence.

The likely line-up against intelligent sides like Bayern will feature Bakayoko and Kanté as a double pivot of doom, but it was telling just how overwhelming their French dynamo was. Obviously Cesc Fabregas has never been a good defender but Bayern were able to find acres of space in front of the Chelsea defence and used that to really expose the Blues’ defence on numerous occasions.

While playing between the lines is still relatively uncommon in England, in Europe it is the standard. And Chelsea’s struggles at dealing with teams who thrive in the space ahead of their defence is a weakness that could really come back to haunt them in the Champions League, especially if they sell Nemanja Matic and place an incredible burden on Kanté and Bakayoko to always be fit to protect the back-line from the kind of pressure Bayern put it under today.

5. The Blues can still end strong

Last season in the Premier League, only two teams scored more than Chelsea did in the last 15 minutes of matches. And in the last 10 minutes only Arsenal created more chances. The Blues were, above all, a physically resilient side and playing just once a week always managed to find an extra gear.

Against Bayern Munich they showed that hasn’t changed. While they were dominated beyond belief for the first 35 or so minutes of the match, at the close of the first half the Bavarians had slowed down while Chelsea put their foot on the gas and managed to carve out some chances and nab their first goal through Marcos Alonso’s rasping strike. The same happened in the second half, with Chelsea upping the tempo in the last five minutes and getting their second as Michy Batshuayi tapped home from close range after Alvaro Morata (making his first appearance for Chelsea) nodded on a corner.

They may not have a plan B and they may have defensive problems, but Chelsea are a physically resilient side who will always be able to come on strong in the crucial closing moments of matches.