Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United concluded the final match of the EFL Cup semi-finals on the evening of January 28th.

Relying on the slim advantage of a one-goal win in the first leg, Spurs narrowly edged past Sheffield United 3-2 on aggregate, successfully advancing to the EFL Cup final where they would meet Chelsea.

This is exactly the kind of final the English FA was hoping for.

A London Derby, a clash between sworn rivals — the more intense the final, the better the publicity for the EFL Cup.

However, since the final is still a full month away, the FA isn’t rushing to promote it just yet.

What has their full attention at the moment is the imminent ”Battle of the Blues”!

This match is of obvious importance to Manchester City.

Chelsea currently sit atop the Premier League table with 21 wins and 1 draw, while City trail behind with 17 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses.

With a 10-point gap separating them from Chelsea, Manchester City must seize this head-to-head opportunity to close the distance.

Otherwise, this season would end up just repeating the last — with Chelsea comfortably dominating their way to the title.

Hoping that other teams in the league will stumble Chelsea while watching the Blues consistently rack up points, only to see them clinch the title early yet again, is simply too frustrating.

Guardiola knows this. Every Manchester City player knows this. Their best shot lies in this direct clash with Chelsea!

Though there’s a disparity in raw strength, the tactical chess match between the two managers is as evenly matched as it gets.

When other Premier League teams go up against Chelsea, the difference in strength is clear. Chelsea, at full strength, often bulldoze over their opposition.

Manchester City is the only team in the Premier League capable of forcing Chelsea to adopt a backfield possession strategy, making them retreat and reassess.

Neither Arsenal nor Spurs have managed to push Chelsea to that point.

So regardless of how slim the chance, City has every right to mount a challenge against Chelsea.

If they want to claw their way back into the title race, there’s no other way but forward. They must clash head-on with Chelsea once again.

Any retreat would essentially mark their exit from this season’s title contention.

The tension before this major showdown blanketed the entire Premier League.

On January 31st, starting at 12:45 PM, the 23rd round of Premier League fixtures began one after another.

The day’s action would stretch until 5:30 PM, when the last match — the ”main course” of the day — would take place.

Of course, that match was none other than Chelsea versus Manchester City: The Battle of the Blues!

There were no other Premier League matches during this time slot, so nearly every Premier League fan turned their full attention to this heavyweight clash.

Ahead of the match, both teams’ players and managers were cautious, offering nothing but diplomatic responses during media interviews.

When asked about their tactics and starting lineups, both Mourinho and Guardiola remained tight-lipped.

It wasn’t until the final hour before kickoff that fans learned of the official starting elevens from media outlets.

Chelsea’s lineup was fairly standard — all the key players were in, and the formation was expected to remain unchanged.

But Manchester City’s starting lineup shocked everyone — they had left out Aguero, who was in perfect health and had played the full 90 minutes in the last match!

This was explosive news. No journalist or fan could have anticipated a sudden fallout between Aguero and Guardiola.

Since their partnership began last season, the two had always shared a strong rapport.

In fact, Aguero had celebrated joyfully with Guardiola on the touchline after scoring in the last match.

With the possibility of internal conflict ruled out, a closer look at City’s starting eleven led some sharp-eyed fans to realize Guardiola’s tactical intentions.

”A strikerless formation! Guardiola is going with a false nine against Chelsea!”

”Wait, what the hell?! Guardiola’s gone off the rails again! Did he stay up all night and fry his brain???”

”How are we supposed to score without Aguero… Okay, fine, Aguero rarely scores against Chelsea anyway, but benching your main striker before a crucial match? Is that really the right call?”

Premier League fans from around the world began mocking Guardiola’s squad choices.

But then, just as both teams finished their warm-ups and wrapped up the pre-match ceremonies, Chelsea’s formation instantly redirected all the online ridicule toward Mourinho!

Chelsea’s starting lineup didn’t surprise anyone.

But… what was Chelsea doing lining up in a 3-4-2-1 formation???

”What the hell?! Has Mourinho been influenced by Rodgers? This is nuts! 3-4-2-1? Didn’t Chelsea just thrash Liverpool with a different setup? I’m confused. I don’t get it anymore!”

”Someone tell me this isn’t real! Mourinho copying Guardiola’s tactical tricks now? Has Chelsea even used this formation in the past season and a half? Why change now?”

”Maybe he’s just tired of winning and wants to experience what losing feels like.”

”Well… as crazy as that sounds, it actually kind of makes sense in this moment. But damn, this just made the match even more interesting! Holy hell, now I’m excited!”

…

Fan discussion surrounding this match exploded across online platforms.

Meanwhile, commentators from different countries who had completely misjudged Chelsea’s formation were now scrambling to correct themselves on air, while quietly cursing Mourinho’s tactical madness.

Once the game officially began, commentators rushed to reintroduce both teams’ lineups and formations.

”...Chelsea’s back three today consists of Thiago Silva, Terry, and Kalas.

Bertrand plays as the left wing-back, with Matic and Leon sitting deep in central midfield, and De Bruyne as the right wing-back.

The two attacking midfielders are Hazard and Kroos, with Ibrahimovic leading the line as the central striker…”

”Manchester City’s starting goalkeeper is Joe Hart.

In defense: Clichy, Mangala, Kompany, and Zabaleta form a line from left to right.

Fernandinho and Fernando anchor the midfield, with David Silva positioned in the central attacking role.

Milner plays on the left wing, Navas on the right, and Fabregas as the lone forward…”

As commentators around the world laid out the formations, fans finally saw the two team setups in full clarity.

Fabregas was indeed stationed up top — much like the false nine role he played at Barcelona in seasons past.

But right after City kicked off at Stamford Bridge, Fabregas quickly dropped into the midfield setup.

City made little effort to challenge Chelsea around the penalty area and instead focused on forming a large six-man midfield possession bloc.

If Chelsea had stuck with their usual 4-3-3, they might have found themselves outnumbered in midfield.

However, with their unconventional 3-4-2-1 formation, Chelsea managed to assemble a six-man midfield battalion of their own!

With both teams committing equal numbers to the midfield, City failed to gain the anticipated advantage, and instead, Chelsea unexpectedly managed to match their tempo from the very beginning.

Mourinho’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. To be honest, he hadn’t expected Guardiola to boldly change tactics and use a strikerless formation in this match to take him on.

As for Mourinho’s decision to employ a three-center-back system today, it wasn’t a last-minute whim either.

Just like he had previously devised the backfield possession approach to counter Manchester City’s increasingly refined high pressing tactics, this time, Mourinho’s idea of using a 3-center-back and 6-midfielder formation was also born from a desire to counter Guardiola’s possession-based style.

As long as the two wing-backs could diligently track back on defense and not get caught out of position, this formation would naturally grant Chelsea an advantage in midfield battles.

By stifling City’s midfield performance, Chelsea would gain more leverage to control the outcome of the game.

Originally, Mourinho had focused his tactical research on the 3-5-2 system.

But once he and Holland encountered Brendan Rodgers’ unconventional 3-4-2-1 formation, something clicked.

Hey—this setup seemed to better showcase both Leon and Kroos’ two-way capabilities on the field.

So the two of them immediately set about adjusting their prior tactical concepts.

And thus, a revised version of the 3-4-2-1, tailored by Chelsea’s coaching staff, made its reappearance today.

The entire Chelsea squad had, of course, thoroughly tested this formation on the training ground. Only after confirming its effectiveness did they decide to deploy it against Manchester City.

So far, the results looked promising. At the very least, Chelsea weren’t losing the midfield battle.

On defense, Leon and Matic were especially meticulous, tightly sealing off the half-spaces in their own territory.

City’s trademark midfield penetration—those straight passes into the flanks—was proving ineffective today.

Fueled by the thunderous support of tens of thousands of fans at home, Chelsea launched quick counterattacks every time they sniffed an opportunity.

At one point, Chelsea even had up to six players pressed into City’s defensive third!

And when it came to pressing, Chelsea moved with lightning speed.

City’s defenders might have just regained possession, only to find Kroos and Hazard immediately swarming them in a coordinated counter-press, with other Chelsea players forming successive layers of pressure.

Kalas even ventured past the halfway line to assist De Bruyne in pinning opponents down. The intensity of this pressing left many fans watching from home with goosebumps!

In a certain sense, City supporters could take pride in the fact that they were witnessing Chelsea in their true full-throttle form.

This level of defensive aggression was something only Manchester City ”deserved” to experience.

Teams like Liverpool and Spurs simply couldn’t withstand Chelsea’s sustained, high-intensity pressing for even fifteen minutes.

Arsenal might fare a bit better, but they were still half a tier below City, not to mention Chelsea.

Of course, that kind of pride wasn’t something City fans actually wanted.

As soon as they noticed the match devolving into a deadlock in midfield, a sense of unease crept in.

Because every time this sort of match pattern emerged against Chelsea in the past, it meant that City’s offensive rhythm had been successfully smothered.

If City wanted to win this game, they needed to ensure fluid, uninterrupted attacking play.

But Chelsea didn’t seem overly interested in completely crushing Manchester City.

Given the current gap in points between the two sides, Chelsea’s three-win advantage was more than enough to approach the remainder of the season at a measured pace.

Sure, beating City and extending the lead to four wins would be ideal.

But if they could economically repel City and settle for a draw, that would also be an acceptable outcome for Chelsea.

At the heart of it, City just hadn’t applied enough pressure in the league to pose a serious threat to Chelsea.

If City were only five or six points behind, Mourinho’s tactical approach today would undoubtedly have been focused entirely on victory.

But without a real sense of urgency or pressure, Chelsea simply needed to stay alert to the handful of teams still trying to chase them at the top.

On the pitch, Leon kept a close eye on Manchester City’s tactical adjustments.

At the moment, he resembled a seasoned hunter—not rushing to lure his prey into the trap, but calmly analyzing how to bring down this unruly beast with minimal cost.

From a tactical standpoint, Manchester City wouldn’t make any glaring mistakes. Guardiola might’ve seemed like he was ”freestyling” today, but his strikerless setup had actually maximized City’s ability to control possession.

That’s what Guardiola’s version of Manchester City excelled at—playing to their strengths in battles against elite opponents. Tactically, it was absolutely the right choice.

But on a psychological level, Leon was certain: the more relaxed Chelsea appeared, the more agitated City’s players would become.

He was waiting for a chance—not for City to make a tactical blunder, but for them to make a poor decision born out of impatience.

Players like Fabregas and Silva could keep their cool. Their tactical responsibilities and personalities guaranteed that.

So the breakthrough had to come from the flanks.

Leon waited patiently. He and Matic held down the defensive line with equal patience.

Then, in the 26th minute of the first half, it came.

On Chelsea’s right flank, Milner suddenly attempted a one-two with Clichy, trying to break down the wing.

It wasn’t a bad choice. Attacking players needed to take initiative and keep testing the opposition if they wanted to break open a defense.

But he picked the wrong target to test.

De Bruyne’s tracking back wasn’t exactly prompt this time, but the combination of Leon and Kalas in defense was no joke—certainly not something Milner and Clichy could just casually challenge.

Their one-two resulted in no more than two quick passes down the flank.

The moment Clichy surged forward, Kalas spun around and immediately blocked his path.

Leon, having anticipated the move, burst forward a half-step faster than Milner, intercepting the ball near the touchline!

This was the golden opportunity Leon had been waiting for!

De Bruyne, who had failed to recover in time moments earlier, was now the perfect target for a counterattack long pass.

The ball sliced through the air like an arrow, linking Chelsea’s back line with the front in an instant.

Clichy and Milner’s forward movement had left the left side of City’s formation wide open—De Bruyne was free to roam.

Fernandinho had been drawn away by Kroos’ intelligent off-the-ball run.

And just as millions watching at home thought De Bruyne would keep driving toward the City box...

He suddenly—and somewhat willfully—sent in a sweeping, high-arching cross!

The ball carved a magnificent and deadly curve across the sky.

Ninety-nine percent of strikers in world football would’ve had no chance to convert such a cross into a shot.

It was hit hard, came in at waist height, and was wickedly difficult to deal with.

But when the man leading Chelsea’s line is Zlatan Ibrahimović, a cross like that suddenly makes perfect sense.

One pass. One run. One powerful strike after drawing the bow.

Joe Hart was once again left utterly helpless by an Ibrahimović shot!

And as the ball tore through Manchester City’s net, Leon, standing in his own half, raised both arms high, smiling as he welcomed the thunderous cheers from the nearby stands full of Blues supporters!

The brilliance of the Battle of the Blues—was only just beginning.

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