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Originally Posted by
Charlie Darwin
Are you trying to argue that Chelsea have better players than Basel? Because it seems like you are and it seems like a fairly obvious point to make.
It's obvious that Chelsea have better players than Basel.
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Nobody would dispute that Basel were naive and that Chelsea had an extra gear, but the fact is that Basel did dominate the ball and were able to cause Chelsea problems with their superior technical ability and their accurate passing.
Disagree with a lot of this. I don't think they "dominated the ball" that much and I don't think they were very good technically nor tactical. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say they caused Chelsea problems - over the two legs the tie was comfortable for Chelsea - much more comfortable than the Rubin, Sparta or Steaua ties. You could say any of those three teams caused Chelsea problems, but I don't really think that is true of Basel who seemed to have a game plan akin to "hit it to Salaah, what him outrun someone and hope he might hit the target".
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Where they failed was their inability to work as an 11-man team and turn good build-up play into chances on goal, and half-chances into good chances. Again, myself and geysir have said all along they are deficient in some areas, but the fact they could boss the game for 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge and really should have been more than 1-0 up at half time can't be denied.
I dont think that they bossed the game for 45 mins at all - aside from their goal the other best chance of the first half was Lampard scuffing a shot onto the post. I dont think that 0-1 at half time should have been 0-2 or 0-3. You make it sound like the whole first half was Chelsea's backs against the wall and they should have been 2-3 goals down. Have you got your Chelsea matches confused? Did you mix up their home match with Basel this year with their away match in Turin or the away match in the Nou Camp a year ago?
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We all know Chelsea have the players to score from anywhere on the pitch. A team like Basel have to take all of their limited chances and hope that Chelsea don't convert theirs.
I agree with this but a slight change in word order makes it even more accurate: A limited team like Basel have to take all of their chances and hope that Chelsea don't convert theirs.
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Unfortunately, their defensive frailties and lack of fully-formed attackers meant they were beaten by a score which really didn't reflect the balance of play over the two games.
Problems in the defence and substandard attackers I agree with, but if those areas are not up to standard then it doesnt bode well for the team - even with a superlative midfield they would probably struggle if they leak goals and cant finish. I think the scoreline was accurate over the two legs, Basel created very little in terms of clear chances across the 180 mins Chech had to make a couple of saves but he was tested more in 90 mins against Rubin and Steaua than in 180 against Basel. Basel's goals came from a dubious penalty at home and a mix up in the Chelsea defensive line, whereas Chelsea seemed able to score at will. Credit to the Swiss team for scoring those two goals but they didn't create anything like enough chances to test Chelsea. Over the 180 mins they were ineffective - they weren't able to blunt Chelsea's attack and keep the tie tight (like Sparta Prague did), nor were they inventive enough to create concrete chances and attack Chelsea's back line (as Rubin and to a lesser extent Steaua did) - the tie was eminently navigable for Chelsea.
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Like I said, the scoreline flatters Chelsea immensely - they were comfortable because Basel collapsed and they scored 3 goals in the space of 5 minutes, but overall they had to work very hard to even get a foothold in the games.
I think the scoreline reflects the 180mins pretty accurately. The 2-1 out in Switzerland already gave Chelsea a foothold in the game, they could have just seen it off at 0-0 (or even 0-1). Basel scored just before half time, but right after half time Chelsea were able to respond, equalizing and then getting the second. As soon as Chelsea really needed to score they were able to.
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And yeah, the scoreline dictates that Basel was probably as easy a game as Chelsea have had in Europe for 3 years. Bayern's win over Barcelona was probably their most comprehensive in a decade, and really the tie was decided after 60 minutes, whereas Basel were still in with a real shout after 135. Are we to conclude that BATE Borisov are a tougher proposition than Barcelona?
No, obviously Barcelona are better than BATE. Using the BATE away match in isolation is a bit inaccurate, it wasn't a knockout tie in the sense that Bayern could have gone out by losing in Minsk, in group stages one offs like that do happen, and if you look at the return match Bayern won it 4-1.
PS - You're wrong about it being Bayern's biggest european home win in a decade they have beaten Sporting Lisbon (2009) and Basel (last year) both 7-0 at home over one leg.
