Graham Potter, the manager who a month ago confessed he thought he had never so much as attended a Uefa Champions League fixture, will on Tuesday be pacing the touchline at one of the European Cup’s great venues. His road to San Siro, where Potter’s Chelsea aim to put themselves a step closer to the knockout phase at the expense of AC Milan, has been travelled at a rapid pace.
Even quicker has been Xabi Alonso’s sudden re-acquaintance with a tournament he won twice as a player, but barely suspected, a fortnight ago, would be offering him a tempting opportunity at instant hero status as a novice coach.
Alonso will tomorrow guide Bayer Leverkusen, who appointed him as head coach last week, into a high-stakes collision with Porto. Both clubs are tied on three points with Atletico Madrid: Alonso has been thrust into a proper dogfight for second place behind runaway Group B leaders FC Brugge.
Five managers who began the season relishing the challenge of the Champions League have been sacked since matchday one, and four were at clubs – Chelsea, Sevilla, RC Leipzig and Leverkusen – who would instinctively target a place in the last 16, at least.
Getting there brings significant income, and if the target recedes, executives calculate the cost of paying off a sacked manager – even one as high-earning as Thomas Tuchel, Potter’s predecessor – against the likelihood of so-called "New Manager Bounce" – a swift uplift in form which could put the team back on track for qualification.
Potter, who took over from Tuchel a month ago, seems to have brought some bounce, on the evidence of Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over Milan seven nights ago in London, correcting a poor start to the European campaign.
Hours after Tuchel oversaw a shock 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, he had been fired. Potter’s first ever outing as a Champions League manager was a 1-1 draw with Salzburg, who lead a group in which Chelsea are now installed in runners-up spot.
Beat Milan again, and Chelsea would give themselves a three-point cushion over the Italian champions. And from there? In the Champions League, momentum counts, and it’s a competition that can be generous to coaches who have joined during a season, in an emergency.
Chelsea 3 AC Milan 0 - player ratings
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CHELSEA RATINGS: Kepa Arrizabalaga 7: Never had save to make until first-half injury-time when he blocked De Ketelaere but would have been relieved to see Krunic fail to finish rebound. A spectator for most of match. Reuters -
Wesley Fofana 8: Rolled home Chelsea opener with first goal for club after goalmouth scramble. Started on right side of back three up against the dangerous Leao and never gave the Portuguese attacker a sniff in his 36 minutes on the pitch. A huge worry for Chelsea when limped off later in first half after innocuous fall. EPA -
Thiago Silva 8: Former Milan defender had home fans on feet with well-timed early tackle on Leao. Saw header and shot saved by keeper within a couple of minutes – then won another header that would eventually leading to Fofana’s goal. Booked in second half. PA -
Kalidou Koulibaly 8: First appearance under manager Graham Potter and was solid as rock although he was up against a woefully poor Milan attacking performance. -
Reece James 8: Combines so well with Sterling down the right. Supplied cross for Aumeyang’s goal before firing home the third himself with near-post finish. Getty -
Mateo Kovacic 7: Booked for aggressive challenge on former teammate Giroud later in first half but helped Chelsea dominate midfield. Given a rest with 25 minutes left and Chelsea three up. Reuters -
Ruben Loftus-Cheek 7: Chosen ahead of Jorginho and started slowly but stamped his authority on the midfield more and more as match wore one. EPA -
Ben Chilwell 7: Finding his groove down the left for Chelsea after injury woes. His overhit cross would eventually end up with Aubameyang scoring their second goal. Getty -
Mason Mount 7: Saw early strike well saved by Tatarusanu then did find net with lovely lobbed finish but caught offside. Offered Chelsea the kind of incisive attacking that Milan were badly lacking. AFP -
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 6: Little influence in first half although did supply nice ball to Mount whose goal that followed was ruled out for offside. Made it 2-0 with close-range finish with his first effort on goal of game. AFP -
Raheem Sterling 8: Quality performance from England attacker who is forming a dangerous partnership with James down Chelsea right and provided simple ball for his teammate to make it 3-0. AFP -
SUBS: Trevoh Chalobah (On for Fofana 37’) 7: Fine tackle on Leao soon after coming on helped defender settle straight into action. Outrageous attempt at acrobatic volley just after break that flew way over. Reuters -
Jorginho (On for Kovacic 65’) 7: Slotted into midfield with Chelsea coasting. EPA -
Conor Gallagher (On for Aubameyang 65’) 7: No opportunity to follow-up on his first goal for club against Crystal Palace at weekend but was still lively after coming on. EPA -
Kai Havertz (On for Mount 74’) 6: Little impact although game was already well and truly over and Chelsea easing through to final whistle. Reuters -
Armando Broja (On for Sterling 75) 6: Too late for any major impact with team strolling to win. EPA -
AC MILAN RATINGS: Ciprian Tatarusanu 7: Veteran Romanian keeper forced into good early save from Mount strike, then called into action twice to deny Silva. Left exposed by poor defending for all three goals. AFP -
Sergino Dest 6: On loan Barcelona full-back was solid enough defensively but failed to make any impact going forward or offer Milan any width attacking wise. PA -
Pierre Kalulu 7: Vital block to stop Mount making it 2-0, although not sure how much he knew about it. Another good challenge with Sterling threatening just before half-time. EPA -
Fikayo Tomori 5: Defender up against his former club was booked for complaining about foul given against teammate Bennacer. Lost possession in first half which almost ended with Sterling getting through on goal. Badly caught out by James cross ahead of Aubameyang goal. AFP -
Fode Ballo 5: Left-back booked in 15th minute after crunching tackle on James’s ankle. Very slow to close down James before the wingback set-up Aubmeyang’s goal. Struggled generally against James and Sterling. EPA -
Ismael Bennacer 5: Captain was hopeless up against Silva on corners in first half which would eventually lead to Chelsea scoring. Pulled down Sterling after being skinned but somehow avoided booking. AFP -
Sandro Tonali 4: Only Italian in Milan starting XI. Both he and midfield partner Bennacer played very deep in midfield which contributed to Milan’s attackers being so isolated. Never got any grip on midfield battle. AFP -
Rade Krunic 4: Another early booking for Milan after clumsy foul on Loftus-Cheek. Should have equalised on brink of half-time when Kepa’s save De Ketelaere fell at his feet but he blazed over, albeit via a slight deflection. AFP -
Charles De Ketelaere 5: Belgian had Milan’s first shot on target saved by Kepa right at end of first half. Little else to show for efforts. AFP -
Rafael Leao 6: Rossoneri dangerman got little joy out of Fofana before defender went off injured. Ghosted past James like he wasn’t there late in first half before setting up chance for De Ketelaere minutes later after surging through two challenges. Looked surprised at second-half substitution although match was already lost. PA -
Olivier Giroud 4: Another former Blue, Milan’s top-scorer this season never got a sniff of goal although the supply-line from midfield was non-existent. Given good reception by home fans when taken off in second half. AFP -
SUBS: Ante Rebic (On for De Ketelaere 65’) 6: Was game over by the time Croatian winger came on. Reuters -
Matteo Gabbia (On for Krunic 65’) 6: Chelsea had taken foot off gas by the time defender came on and at least he can say no more goals were scored. AFP -
Divock Origi (On for Giroud 73’) 6: Former Liverpool striker enjoyed the same complete lack of service as the player he replaced with team already three goals down. PA -
Brahim Diaz (On for Leao 73’) 6: Midfielder on loan from Real Madrid could do nothing to change what was an awful Milan performance. AFP Tommaso Pobega (On for Bennacer 73’) 6: Like rest of substitutes, midfielder just helped game tick over without any more damage being done.
Just ask Hansi Flick, promoted from assistant coach at Bayern Munich in November 2019. He, like Potter a month ago, had never taken sole charge of a Champions League match before guiding Bayern to eight successive triumphs including the final against Paris Saint-Germain.
The following season, Tuchel was dismissed by PSG in December, hired to replace Frank Lampard at Chelsea in January, and in May was celebrating a European Cup victory in the final against Manchester City.
Potter will also note that both Chelsea’s European Cups were won with a new man, fresh to the job, on the touchline. Roberto di Matteo had been in charge for barely two and half months at Stamford Bridge when he had his hands on the 2012 European Cup.
Some "New Manager Bounce" has been hinted at at Leipzig, who waved farewell to Domenico Tedesco after the opening match-day defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk. His successor, Marco Rose, has overseen two thumping wins in the Bundesliga, and gathered the first points of the European campaign at home to Celtic. A replica of that victory, tonight in Glasgow, could drive Leipzig, semi-finalists in 2019-20, back into the slipstream of Real Madrid, who lead Group F.
There can be less optimism for Jorge Sampaoli, who last week began his second stint at Sevilla, replacing Julen Lopetegui immediately after a 4-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund. Sampaoli takes over a team with one European point so far and occupying the relegation zone in La Liga.
“We need to use each game as a chance to improve,” he said ahead of tonight’s re-match with Dortmund in Germany. It was an acknowledgement that the prospect of clambering out of a group headed by Manchester City, and with Dortmund on six points, is slender.
Sixty kilometres away, in Leverkusen, the mood for the newest boss in the Champions League is more positive. Xabi Alonso’s debut in his first job as a senior head coach, having replaced Gerardo Seoane last Thursday, was dazzling, a 4-0 win over Schalke 04. Take that energy into the Champions League, as Alonso said, “and we can build up our chances of reaching the last 16”.
If Leverkusen cannot make second place, Alonso will hardly be blamed: “What happened in the first three games counts,” he pointed out of the two defeats under Seoane. But if Alonso rescues that bad start, he’ll have huge credit in the Bayer bank.
