and a warm welcome on what is an ideal night for football you've got to say i'm derek ray joined in
the commentary box by lee dixon and this is where it all starts in the uefa champions league the
group stage and match day one my goodness so much to look forward to it's he taking on chelsea well
derek i hope you are as excited as me to start the champions league always a special atmosphere
both teams will be hoping for a long journey or it may be very very short we're about to find out
is the goalkeeper of choice
plays with vinnie orban in central defence kevin campo plays alongside marcel zavitzer in central
midfield and the tactical configuration has two players in attack from the very offset
and a look at the chelsea starting 11. antonio rudiger starts with andreas
christensen in central defense and got kante starts alongside
matteo kovacich in central midfield and team over now starts with olivier giroud
it's the opening match day champions league group stage match day one underway
marcel he's in control of the situation effective challenge
marcos alonso here's matt matteo kovic now chelsea unable to retain possession
and a goal to open the scoring a very bright start to this one
well here's the replay and derek if you get caught on the ball there you should be fined a
week's wages it's terrible and he's punished some explaining to be done to his coach i
feel
so the game has restarted and chelsea are the team with the lead
now with orban
what can they do from here that's the kind of shielding player you expect from him
excellent block camper and a poor ball
marcel
wonderfully weighted pass marcus alonso
pressure exerted but he keeps the ball matteo komacic
marcel zabizza in possession yusuf paulson
novi mookie ellie making excellent progress with the ball with his face
oh nice ball
showing good patience
and cocoon magnificent defending
chelsea are really struggling in terms of possession but on the break they've been
devastated the pace really hurts defenses they've been electric when they've had the ball
not the mickey ellie across towards that far post and caught with ease no real threat from the cross
jihoo kante now a really sumptuous ball and covers in
and he scored not once but twice they simply cannot stop him and no wonder he's enjoying
himself here's the replay and as we see it's a class ball through to split the defense
and then through on goal do you go for placement or do you go for power well he certainly wasn't
messing around was he absolutely smashes it past the keeper it's a really lovely finish
well a second goal for them here
another stoppage time situation one minute here
christensen and cuckoo and so it is the first half story has been written
well in his early years they used to call mateo kovacic the little genius and we're
seeing exactly why in this game lee well shot after shot he sent goldberg as we can see
keeper must be really sick and tired of him keeps picking the ball out of the net as well
and so the second half of this champions league group stage match day one contest
commences
oh that's a really good authoritative tackle throw in here olivier giroud
well the defending needed to be a bit more switched on than that
and kunku
danny olmo with it
and a strong tackle
well that's a foul and it sets up a free kick in a dangerous position
that's an awful lot wrong with that free kick but just
wide when you set up for a free kick you have to hit the target he wasn't far off but it was a miss
a really effective shielding under pressure and beyond the last defender offside
amber inside the final 30 minutes an attack full of promise camper
danny alma with it and there's the feed into the box
and the conditions look pretty good for the counter attack oh they get the ball once more
well leipzig controlling possession here but after that it's been disappointing i'd like to see them
use those wide areas around the defense get round them as opposed to trying to go through the middle
and kunku danny olmo with it chance here absolutely spot on with that challenge
and threading it forward and the keeper getting across to stop it
now they're going to alter things here's the substitutions
well offside here such a pity for them chance was on
and it's a matter of what occurs in the final 15 minutes
it's been a thoroughly cogent and convincing performance in this matchley well the creative
teamwork of chelsea tonight has been absolutely superb the players have all been on the same hymn
sheet the flow the movement it's been brilliant and he was in the right place to intercept
haidara and kunku
unable to keep the ball that time what can he do from here
untidy in possession you can't really tackle like that and expect to get away with it
booking to come you would think and the referee decided that intervention was
illegal and cautionable oh without question it was not the best of challenges
oh that's a super ball over the top here's the goal of the match and you
cannot argue with that well he's tearing this defense apart they can't cope with him
well here's the replay it's a lovely time passover
and the finish i can't tell you how hard that technique is it's an absolute cracker
well if there were any lingering doubts about the outcome but surely they now have been removed
getting in there to intercept
so two minutes to be added on at the end given away by chelsea
breaking at pace
and there goes the full-time whistle chelsea claim all three points in the opening match in
the uefa champions league well it's everything you want from the start of match one good
strong start that result will give everybody confidence especially the players well done
you