Cesar Azpilicueta put in a fantastic defensive performance against Ajax last night in the Champions league, as he helped his side take away all three points in a 1-0 victory.
It was even more special for him due to making his 350th appearance for the club in all competitions.
The Blues battled hard for the win against a very good opposition. At times it was like watching the same two teams go at each other with the similarities in tactics and intensity, with both having young and fast squads.
The Blues captain put in a number of vital blocks and recovery tackles, and kept the door firmly shut to the Chelsea goal.
In fact, the whole Chelsea back line were excellent and solid, meaning there was actually little left to do for goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
It’s an important aspect that Chelsea have to get right, due to the players ahead of them pressing high and going hunting for the ball. Against a team like Ajax, this can leave them exposed at times, but they dealt with it so well.
Azpilicueta spoke after the match, as reported by the Chelsea website.
He said:
“It is a massive result for us. We needed to come here and get points, and we got what we wanted and we had to work until the end.
“We knew Ajax are a team with a lot of energy, very dynamic. They were playing the ball quick with a lot of rotation.
“They have dangerous attacking players so we knew we had to be ready and in the beginning we struggled a little bit to deal with the pressure and to keep the ball, even though we had a couple of good chances, good counters.
“From that point in the game we were getting the ball quicker and our wingers were very quick to press high up the pitch.
“They did an amazing job and it was very important the midfielders played with high intensity.
“We were brave and we are very happy to get a late goal and a very important one from Michy.
“We are in good form, we are winning games. It is true we did not start the competition the way we wanted but we knew we were improving as a team and that we had to work hard.
“It is a long season and we are still in October. Even if we got the three points on Wednesday night there is nothing done, we have to play Ajax at Stamford Bridge, we have three games to play in the group stage and we have to keep working because at the moment we haven’t achieved anything.
“Now we have three days until we play again, against Burnley. We know what it means to play every three days at the top level, we have to be ready for every single game.
“We expect a tough game against Burnley and we have to be ready to get the three points.”
