Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Graham Potter speaks to BT Sport. “It was a good night for us. We needed to play well. The attitude and application of the players was fantastic. It was a really important win for us. We started off a little nervous, a result of us wanting to do so well so much, but then you saw the appetite of the players. We got control of it, offered a bit of a threat, pushing before the goal. Overall, can’t complain. A clean sheet, three goals, the personality of the players was really good. We’ve still got a long way to go in the competition, and we’ll see what happens next week.”
He also reports that Wesley Fofana will have a scan on his injured knee tomorrow, but there’s nothing to report tonight.
We’ve still to hear from Graham Potter, so please don’t leave this MBM for good … but David Hytner’s verdict is in. Here it is! Off you pop! See you back here soon!
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang speaks to BT. “It was not an easy game, because they played well in the first half. But we kept the intensity high and we were dominant and confident. I am feeling good. The first goal was really important, it gave us some strength and confidence to play the game. We knew what we had to do against Milan, who have great strikers, and our defenders did an incredible job today. The mood is very good at the moment, and we will try to keep it up.”
A strange match, in that Milan were the better side for the first 20 minutes or so. But then Chelsea pinned them back and stress-tested their defence, which was found seriously wanting. Thiago Silva won a series of headers, then Wesley Fofana bundled his first Chelsea goal into the net, after which the home side were utterly dominant. Second-half goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reece James boosted a scoreline that ultimately doesn’t flatter Chelsea at all. Milan ended the evening an impotent mess.
Milan started today on top of Group E, Chelsea on the bottom. Now look!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Bull Salzburg | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Dinamo Zagreb | 3 | -2 | 3 |
FULL TIME: Chelsea 3-0 Milan
A fine victory for Chelsea, who kickstart their Group E campaign. Milan were pitiful.
90 min: Origi slips the ball wide right for Dest, who returns it to the striker. Origi heads harmlessly over, and smiles wryly. That’s as good as Milan have managed in this second half.
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88 min: It’s been a perfect second half for Chelsea, who have been able to conserve plenty of energy after getting the job done just after the hour.
86 min: A few ironic olés from the home support as Milan stroke it around the back, waiting for the clock to run down, wishing their lives away. “We Yanks better hope Pulisic gets transferred to Milan,” writes Richard McGahey. “They could use him and he’s not getting any looks from Potter.”
84 min: AC Milan. Napoli. Compare and contrast.
83 min: … Milan witlessly and impotently play it back to the halfway line. That just about sums up their evening’s efforts.
82 min: James sends a clumsy header, intended for Kepa, flying out for a Milan corner, from which …
80 min: … though a fourth momentarily looks on the cards as the ball’s launched long down the middle, Havertz making chase. Tătăruşanu rushes out of his box to head clear, just in time.
79 min: The pace of the game has completely dropped. Chelsea may have declared.
77 min: Milan stroke it around the back awhile, and are another couple of minutes closer to cutting their losses and getting out of Dodge.
75 min: … and now Chelsea make another double change. Off go Mount and Sterling, on come Havertz and Broja.
73 min: Milan make a triple change. On come Brahim Diaz, Tommaso Pobega and Divock Origi, replacing Bennacer, Leao and Giroud, the latter receiving a warm ovation from his old fans.
71 min: Silva is booked for bringing down Leao, who had just nutmegged him. A free kick just to the left of centre, 30 yards out. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box. Bennacer floats it in. Giroud runs it out for a goal kick.
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70 min: James makes good down the right and looks for Gallagher at the near post. Tătăruşanu claims. A fourth Chelsea goal looks much more likely than a Milan consolation.
68 min: Leao wins a footrace down the left with Silva, and whips a low cross into the box for Giroud. Chalobah blocks and clears. Leao has been Milan’s sole plus point tonight.
67 min: Giroud shoves Silva in the back as the pair compete a high ball on the edge of the Milan box. He cuts a frustrated figure.
66 min: Chelsea respond with a double change of their own. Jorginho and Gallagher come on for Kovacic and Aubameyang.
64 min: Milan make their first changes. De Ketelaere and Krunić make way for Rebić and Gabbia.
63 min: Thing is, Milan were the better side up until the opening goal. Ever since, they’ve been a ragged nonsense. Take nothing away from Chelsea, mind, whose confidence subsequently blossomed.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Milan (James 62)
Milan faff around while playing out from the back. Chelsea swarm. The ball’s won and worked to Sterling, just to the right of the D. Sterling slips a clever ball down the channel for James, who blooters an unstoppable rising shot into the top right. Easy as that!
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61 min: Mount swings a diagonal from the left touchline towards James on the right. James curls infield for Sterling, who volleys over the bar. No matter, though, because…
59 min: … Chelsea will wonder how they’re not three up. Koulibaly heads the corner clear with ease. Sterling skitters up the right, and one pass infield will send Aubameyang clean through. But he clanks the ball into Kalulu, and Milan are spared the humiliation of conceding a goal from their own corner.
58 min: Milan try to respond quickly, Krunic winning a corner off Koulibaly down the right. The visitors load the box, and …
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Milan (Aubameyang 56)
Mount shovels Chilwell into the Milan box down the left. Mount looks for Aubameyang in the middle, but overcooks his cross woefully. James retrieves the ball on the right and whips back in low. Aubameyang reacts, Tomori doesn’t, and the striker pokes home from six yards!
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55 min: James slides a ball down the right for Sterling, who looks first time for Aubameyang in the middle. Tomori reads the danger and intercepts.
53 min: Milan have achieved very little since the restart. But their fans remain in fine voice. Otherwise, Stamford Bridge has fallen a little flat.
51 min: A free kick for Chelsea out on the right. Mount swings it towards a crowded mixer. The delivery isn’t great, and the ball only just reaches the edge of the box, so Chalobah improvises a bicycle kick that whistles harmlessly into the stand. Full marks for ambition.
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49 min: … but otherwise, it’s been a fairly uneventful start to the second half.
47 min: Sterling one-twos with Mount down the left and very nearly powers his way into the Milan box. He can’t quite control his chest down and the ball breaks through to Tătăruşanu.
Chelsea get the second half underway. They’ll be kicking towards the Matthew Harding now. Neither coach has made a change at the break.
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HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-0 Milan
Well, that period of added time was eventful. In some parallel universes, it’s 2-1, 2-0 and 1-1. But neither Sterling nor Krunic scored, and so here we are.
45 min +4: Milan should be level! Leao dribbles down the left, between Chalobah and James and into the box. He brushes off Loftus-Cheek and rolls across for De Ketelaere, whose shot is blocked. The ball breaks to Krunic, who simply has to score, but leans back and balloons over the bar from six yards!
Updated
45 min +3: Sterling wears the pained look of a man who knows he’s just spurned a great opportunity. Still, Chelsea will be happy enough with their first-half work.
45 min +1: Tomori scuffs a pass in the centre circle, allowing Sterling to tear off towards the Milan box. Sterling enters the box but has his concentration broken by Tonali, who brushes his shoulder. He could go down. He could shoot. He could square for Aubameyang. He does none of that, and the ball squirts through to Tătăruşanu. A huge chance to double Chelsea’s lead.
45 min: There will be four extra minutes.
44 min: Hmm, it turns out Tomori picked up that booking, for complaining about the award of the free kick. Bennacer certainly did enough to earn it. We’ll clear that up if and when either of them sees yellow later.
42 min: Bennacer is the latest player to go into the referee’s notebook, as he cynically tugs back Sterling. A fair chance this game won’t end with 22 men on the pitch, even though it hasn’t been particularly dirty or ill-tempered.
41 min: Sterling and James are bossing Milan down the right wing. They’re getting a lot of joy. Milan are currently thankful that their crosses haven’t matched the quality of the build-up play yet.
39 min: Kovacic is booked for a wholly unnecessary slide on his erstwhile team-mate Giroud.
37 min: Ach, scrub that. Fofana sadly goes down again, and has to be replaced by Trevoh Chalobah. At least he’s able to limp off, no need for a stretcher. He’d jarred his knee in the turf when battling for a loose ball with Kalulu, who was blameless.
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35 min: Fofana goes down rubbing his knee, and requires a little bit of attention from the physio. Thankfully, given his recent injury history, he’s good to continue.
33 min: Some more 1970s Fiat energy from Milan, whose defence is all over the shop as Aubameyang dinks a clever pass down the inside-right channel for Mount. He’s clear. Tătăruşanu comes racing off his line and is lobbed elegantly by Mount, a diagonal dink from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box that nestles into the bottom left. But the flag goes up for offside. It’s the correct decision, but given the quality of the finish, such a shame.
32 min: Milan haven’t really responded to falling behind. On the touchline, Graham Potter looks extremely relaxed. “Indulge me this cliche please,” begs Matthew Richman. “Milan this half remind me so much of an Italian sports car: beautifully silly going forward but prone to catastrophic combustion from a soft underbelly. Other automotive similes are welcome.”
30 min: Sterling slips a pass down the right to feed James, who cuts a low cross back for Mount. He meets the ball first time, and sends it whistling towards the bottom left. Kalulu blocks bravely. Had he not done so, that might have beaten Tătăruşanu in the Milan goal. Lovely slick football from Chelsea.
28 min: The goal hadn’t exactly been coming … but Chelsea had started to apply a bit of pressure to the Milan defence, and quite a few in white started to make silly mistakes. Nereo Rocco will be spinning in his grave.
26 min: That’s Wesley Fofana’s first goal for Chelsea … but spiritually, it’s Thiago Silva’s, who won three aerial challenges in quick succession against Ismaël Bennacer.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Milan (Fofana 24)
Chilwell takes. Silva wins yet another header. Tătăruşanu parries, the ball pinging back into a crowded six-yard box. There’s an old-fashioned playground scuffle, then the ball breaks to Fofana, who threads into the bottom right from six yards. Scruffy, but do the Stamford Bridge majority care?!
Updated
23 min: From the resulting corner, sent in from the left by Chilwell, Silva wins another header. It’s heading towards the top left. Tomori shoulders out for another corner. From which …
22 min: Sterling juggles the ball down the right. Ballo-Toure handles. A free kick, just to the right of the Milan box. Mount takes. Thiago Silva, playing against the club he won the scudetto with in 2011, powers a header goalwards. Tătăruşanu tips over.
20 min: Tonali concedes a careless corner. Mount sends it in from the right. Fofana flings himself at it, only to shoulder the ball miles over the bar from six yards.
19 min: … and Stamford Bridge falls quiet as a result. This match hasn’t quite taken off yet.
17 min: The game suddenly turns scrappy, Kalulu and Mount taking turns to pass the ball straight out of play under no pressure whatsoever. ♫ ♪ The chaaa-aaaaa-aaaampions! ♪♫ ♪
15 min: Ballo-Toure slides in recklessly on James, catching the Chelsea defender on the top of his boot, near the ankle. A yellow card is about right, though you’ve seen players sent packing for less.
13 min: Dest takes on Chilwell down the right and gets a cross in. Chelsea clear with Giroud lurking. Milan will be pleased with their start.
11 min: Chelsea stroke it around the middle to no real effect. Mount’s shot apart, they’ve not managed to put anything together yet.
9 min: Silva clanks a simple pass into the chest of De Ketelaere, who breaks into the Chelsea half and slips wide left to Leao. The dangerous winger strides into the box only to stumble when preparing to shoot. Fofana is able to stick a foot in and poke the ball back to Kepa. For a second, Chelsea were exposed there, and are fortunate Leao momentarily lost control of his legs.
7 min: Krunic goes into the book for a late, late clip on the heel of an in-flight Loftus-Cheek. He looks pained, but can have no complaints.
Updated
5 min: … but it’s Chelsea who work the keeper first. Aubameyang, strolling down the middle, rolls a pass towards Mount on his left. Mount opens his body and steers a fine shot towards the bottom right. Tătăruşanu is forced to fingertip around for the first corner of the evening. Nothing comes of that, but Mount’s shot should settle Chelsea after their slightly cold start.
3 min: Milan are seeing most of the ball during these very early exchanges. Koulibaly, impatient and irritated, comes through the back of De Ketelaere and is lucky not to go into the book. He might have used up his early-exchange privileges.
1 min: The first free kick of the evening is awarded to Milan. Tonali swings it into the mixer from the right, and it’s easily dealt with by the home defence.
Chelsea get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Shed in this first half.
Before kick off, there’s a minute of silence to remember the poor souls lost in Indonesia last weekend. Perfectly observed, apart from one clown, who is quickly told in no uncertain terms to be quiet.
The teams are out! Chelsea play in royal blue. Milan sport the lucky white away strip they’ve worn in six of their seven victorious European Cup finals. (For the record, the only final they’ve won when wearing their first-choice red and black stripes is the 4-1 rout of Ajax in 1969.) Stamford Bridge expects, with both sets of fans in good voice. We’ll be off once the Uefa marketing department have desecrated the work of George Frideric Handel.
Graham Potter speaks to BT Sport. “It’s an important game, we know that. We want to be aggressive, get the crowd involved in the game, and play well. We have to express ourselves and be positive. We’re playing against top opponents so we have to play well. The boys are in a good place, so we’re looking forward to it. Whoever plays, they’re going to be strong. We have to focus on ourselves, that’s what we can control. We’ve had some good preparation, and feel like we’ve taken a step from the previous match, so now it’s just about playing, and playing well, and hopefully getting the points.”
Tonight’s other game in Group E has just finished. RB Salzburg have claimed their first win, beating Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 at Stadion Salzburg thanks to a 71st-minute Noah Okafor penalty. As things stand, they move to the top of the group, cranking up the pressure on bottom-placed Chelsea.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Bull Salzburg | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | AC Milan | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Dinamo Zagreb | 3 | -2 | 3 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 2 | -1 | 1 |
Team news: Koulibaly starts
Chelsea make two changes to the XI sent out for the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace last weekend. Kalidou Koulibaly makes his first appearance under Graham Potter. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is also called up. Jorginho and Kai Havertz drop to the bench.
A couple of Chelsea old boys line up for Milan this evening: Olivier Giroud and Fikayo Tomori. Erstwhile Liverpool supersub Divock Origi is on the bench.
The teams
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Fofana, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly, James, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Chilwell, Mount, Aubameyang, Sterling.
Subs: Jorginho, Pulisic, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Mendy, Broja, Zakaria, Ziyech, Gallagher, Azpilicueta, Havertz, Cucurella.
AC Milan: Tatarusanu, Dest, Kalulu Kyatengwa, Tomori, Toure, Bennacer, Tonali, Krunic, De Ketelaere, Leao, Giroud.
Subs: Diaz, Rebic, Origi, Pobega, Gabbia, Mirante, Jungdal, Gala, Coubis.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands).
Preamble
AC Milan are old-school European royalty; Chelsea kings of the new. Both of Chelsea’s European Cups have been won since Milan’s last victory in 2007; the rossoneri, second only to Real Madrid on the all-time list with seven wins, haven’t got anywhere near since. In other words, this is a match-up right out of the top drawer, yet there’s been no overlap whatsoever with both clubs simultaneously in their pomp. In fact, the only time they’ve previously met was in the first group stage of the 1999-2000 Champions League, a goalless affair at Stamford Bridge preceding a 1-1 draw at San Siro, Olivier Bierhoff and Dennis Wise with the goals, both clubs in something of an unglamorous transitionary phase. Their third competitive meeting tonight sees the two megaclubs in equally middling form, but with Chelsea bottom of the Group E table after defeat in Zagreb and a home draw with Salzburg, the stakes are high and tension guaranteed. Kick off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
