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         MANCHESTER UNITED 2 – 0 CHELSEA: A JOSE MOURINHO CLASSIC.

This particular match reminded me of sir Alex Ferguson’s last game in champions league as united manager. Manchester united squad of that season was one of the worst I have ever seen under Ferguson though Robert Van Persie was added to the squad that same season. When the fixture between united and Madrid came out, I had my friends saying united will lose both legs. But Ferguson did his magic. Before the first leg at Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid were tipped to have a comfortable win over United but they struggled to play a 1 – 1 draw with Ronaldo equalizing in the dying minutes.

An away goal and a wonderful display over a star studded Madrid team gave the Red Devils advantage over Real Madrid. The return tie on 5th March, 2013 was the march no one gave United a chance even with that impressive display at Bernabeu. You can never write off Ferguson’s United, not when he sees a glorious chance to qualify. He proved it at Old Trafford where United controlled the game and Ronaldo was not in the game until something so bizarre as the word itself happened.

Right from the first whistle, United played the kind of game that suggested losing was impossible and it will take a miracle for Madrid to go through to the next round. As every minute elapsed, their confidence were building. At the sit out where I was watching, I could see confidence built at the faces of United fans – they were ordering more drink, believing the underdog United were already in the quarter – finals at the expense of Real Madrid.

United took off from where they began in the second half – subduing Real Madrid in all area of the pitch. Then, the goal came few minutes into the second half – a Sergio Ramos own goal. It looked like United were on course for a place in the quarter – finals. The Red Devil kept having all round control of the game. Then… On the 56th minutes, Nani who was at his impish best was given a straight red card by Turkish Referee, Cuneyt Cakir for a foul on Alvaro  Arbeloa. When Albeloa fell down, nobody including non Man. United fans, thought it was a foul. I was shocked when the referee showed a straight red card. You can call it cheat of the century or whatever you like but I have never seen such in world football.  To prove to you Madrid needed something like a miracle to beat United at Old Trafford because United have not lost a champions league game at Old Trafford since February 2005 – a 1 – 0 loss to AC Milan. And referee Cuneyt Cakir wrecked that run for them. United loss that game, of course Mourinho, the then Madrid manager was quick to take advantage and made a smart change – bringing in Luka Modrid in place of Alvaro Albeloa.

But what made the game so hard for Real Madrid until Nani’s red card?

Ferguson’s tactics! He was a master tactician and this game would have been one of his best games against a supposed superior side had the referee not caused him the game. Ferguson had noticed that Xabi Alonso was Madrid’s midfield lynchpin – spreading scintillating passes all over the pitch, detecting the tempo of the game and bringing Ronaldo into play. So Ferguson asked Danny Welbeck to stifle out Xabi Alonso – deny him the ball. That is how Ronaldo was cut out of the game until Nani’s red card. Nani’s red caused Welbeck to move to the left flank, freeing up Alonso. And Mourinho, a tactician himself saw that, and introduced Luka Modrid in place of Alvaro Albeloa. Modrid equalized from midfield just after his introduction and within 3 minutes, Madrid scored two goals to win the tie – Ronaldo scoring the last. Mourinho said after the match: “the best team loss”.

After that embarrassing defeat at Stamford bridge, Mourinho needed to prove that his willy – nilly mental power and managerial skills were still intact. And he did it with aplomb and swag. On many occasions Chelsea has looked unstoppable after that early season slump – only few teams able to play to their tempo. Mourinho has masterminded so many wins in big games over the course of his managerial career and he needed to get this one right to maintain his position as a top manager in the game.

With all the talk of how well organize this Chelsea team are, how effective Kante is in games after games, the real secret of Chelsea game is hidden in how Eden Hazard performs his magic on the pitch. It is true Chelsea has quality all over the pitch but take Hazard out and they look ordinary. Mourinho understood this very fact well and he told Herrera to man – mark Hazard. It is a dirty and difficult job to do but Herrera who is diminutive in size did the job very well. Mourinho tried this game plan in the FA cup semi-final at Stamford bridge but Ander Herrera’s red card in that match disrupted the game plan. United narrowly lost that game. This time, with Hazard completely taken out of the game by Herrera, Chelsea looked toothless – to the point of not having one single shot on target in the course of the game. Having lost the reverse of this fixture 4 – 0, he responded with style and made history by being the only manager to actually stop Conte’s army from registering a single shot on target in an entire match – a master piece from Mourinho. The last time Chelsea played a premier league match without a shot on target was in 2007 and against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

“It was the same plan that was working with 11 players in the FA CUP at Stamford Bridge. They are the best counter- attacking team in the country and we controlled them very well. I’m very happy with the boys. I’m happy – it’s not because it’s Chelsea. It’s because we need these three points. I don’t feel extra joy at beating Chelsea – we beat the leader. It doesn’t matter if the leader is Chelsea or another – we beat them convincingly. Nobody can doubt our credit to win the game” –    Mourinho’s comments after the match.

Is there anything Antonio Conte could have done to rescue the game – seeing Hazard was not in the game?

Yes! If Conte had introduced Fabregas as soon as possible in the game, it would have disrupted United game plan. Chelsea always look far more dangerous when Fabregas is in the team. But his defensive frailty cost him a place in the Chelsea starting eleven. Kante and Matic are defensive mid fielders and they will always have issues in their attacking plays. When the defense needs to be opened up and killer passes that can make a striker dangerous needs to be set, you can’t count on the passes of Kante and Matic. This is the kind of game where Fabregas tricks and variation in passes were needed. Seeing from the first minute that it would be hard for Hazard to impose himself in the game, Conte would have brought in Fabregas in place of matic right in the first half to give the sort of passes that could give United defense problems. Conte got this one wrong.