Chelsea's "Big four" part 8
Chelsea's "Big Four": 2018/19 - Champions of Europe again
The Summer of 2018 saw Guardiola focus more on the defensive side. Once again, Jurgen Klopp failed to land his preferred transfer target, as the sale of Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona came too late to stop Virgil Van Dijk moving to Stamford Bridge for £70,000,000, while Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho also came to Stamford Bridge to bolster the midfield. In place of Van Dijk, Liverpool raided RB Leipzig for Dayot Upemacano and Timo Werner, while Jose Mourinho brought in Fred and Diogo Dalot, Antonio Conte brought Riyad Mahrez to the Etihad, and Arsenal’s new manager Unai Emery, who had replaced the retiring Arsene Wenger, signed Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. Tottenham, meanwhile, signed nobody.
It looked like it would be business as usual for Chelsea, as they won their opening 10 matches before being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace, while in Europe, they were fed into a tough group with PSG, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade. A goal from Hazard settled the first match in Chelsea’s favour, before Lorenzo Insigne’s late equaliser saw Napoli snatch a point. Then came Red Star Belgrade, and an Eden Hazard hat-trick saw the Serbian outfit dispatched 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, before a 2-0 defeat in Belgrade. By the end of November, Chelsea had been displaced from the top of the league following a 3-2 defeat at White Hart Lane, while a 2-1 defeat in Paris had left the Blues level on points with Napoli with their last match against the Italians at Stamford Bridge. In true Chelsea fashion, the Blues dispatched their opposition 2-0 with goals from Salah and Giroud, although they would lose top spot to PSG who ran riot 4-1 in Belgrade. A defeat at Wolves and a draw at Brighton saw Chelsea drop to 3rd, but they would roar back as Van Dijk got his first Chelsea goal in a 3-1 win at home to Leicester while Timo Werner’s goal for Liverpool at Wolves saw the Reds leapfrog Man City. By New Year’s Eve, it looked like it was turning into one of the closest title races since 1999…
Arsenal were struggling for consistency under Unai Emery, while Jose Mourinho had performed his classic 3rd season collapse and had been sacked by Man Utd after a 3-2 loss at Anfield, while Wolves were surprising everyone with a run on the Europa League spots. In the Carabao Cup, Chelsea had barrelled through Liverpool, Derby County and Bournemouth to set up a semi-final against Tottenham, while Man City had been surprisingly eliminated by Leicester City in the quarter finals. Top spot changed hands throughout January, as a brace from Salah gained Chelsea a point from 2-0 down at the Emirates before the Blues scrambled back on top at Bournemouth thanks to a first-minute goal from Aguero and a defensive masterclass from van Dijk and Courtois. The following weekend, a hat-trick from Aguero saw off Huddersfield 6-0, while a brace from Lukaku enabled Man City to come back to beat Arsenal 2-1 while Liverpool slipped further back. Then Chelsea came to the Etihad, and a goal from Salah and Sergio Aguero’s second hat-trick in a row saw Chelsea move clear at the top in a dramatic 4-3 win. In Europe, the Blues had put themselves in good stead as Aguero gave them a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich (as had Manchester City and Tottenham with first leg wins over Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund), but their FA Cup hopes had ended against Man Utd in a penalty shootout a few days after a 2-0 win over Leicester in the Carabao Cup Final. With eight matches left, Chelsea were two points behind Manchester City with a game in hand and having won 2-0 in their second leg with goals from Aguero and van Dijk (Tottenham had beaten Dortmund, while Man Utd had only managed to draw 1-1 in Paris and Man City had lost 5-2 in the Nou Camp.) The top spot continued to change hands, but in April Chelsea would lose 2-1 at Anfield as goals from Werner and Mane overcame one from Salah before Manchester City won the Manchester Derby to move four points clear of Chelsea with Liverpool two points further back. However, Man City then contrived to draw 0-0 at Turf Moor while Chelsea roared to a 4-1 victory at Old Trafford. Then came a pivotal week in Chelsea’s season. On 30th April, Aguero’s opener in the Nou Camp was overturned by a brace from Luis Suarez. On 5th May, Chelsea moved back to the top of the league with a 4-0 win over Watford. A day later, Man City leapfrogged them once more as Vincent Kompany’s piledriver gave them victory over Leicester. On 8th May, De Bruyne took Barcelona apart with two goals and an assist for Aguero before substitute Tammy Abraham put the boot in as Guardiola’s old club were dispatched 4-0 at Stamford Bridge to set up an all-London Champions League Final against Tottenham. The final day of the season had Chelsea fans dreaming as Brighton took the lead against Manchester City just before Aguero gave Chelsea a 1-0 lead at Leicester. Even after Laporte equalised, Chelsea still led on goal difference. But then Mahrez and Gundogan scored in the space of ten minutes, keeping the title in Manchester.
Antonio Conte’s Man City would complete a League and Cup double with a 5-0 demolition of Watford, while Jurgen Klopp would get his first trophy as Liverpool manager with a 3-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League Final. The Champions League Final, however, ended up over and done with in ten minutes as Hazard and De Bruyne put Chelsea 2-0 ahead before a late goal from Aguero put the icing on the cake. Chelsea had their second European Cup, Guardiola had his third. It would be the last hurrah for the big four, however, as Eden Hazard departed for Real Madrid for over £100,000,000.
The Summer of 2018 saw Guardiola focus more on the defensive side. Once again, Jurgen Klopp failed to land his preferred transfer target, as the sale of Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona came too late to stop Virgil Van Dijk moving to Stamford Bridge for £70,000,000, while Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho also came to Stamford Bridge to bolster the midfield. In place of Van Dijk, Liverpool raided RB Leipzig for Dayot Upemacano and Timo Werner, while Jose Mourinho brought in Fred and Diogo Dalot, Antonio Conte brought Riyad Mahrez to the Etihad, and Arsenal’s new manager Unai Emery, who had replaced the retiring Arsene Wenger, signed Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. Tottenham, meanwhile, signed nobody.
It looked like it would be business as usual for Chelsea, as they won their opening 10 matches before being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace, while in Europe, they were fed into a tough group with PSG, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade. A goal from Hazard settled the first match in Chelsea’s favour, before Lorenzo Insigne’s late equaliser saw Napoli snatch a point. Then came Red Star Belgrade, and an Eden Hazard hat-trick saw the Serbian outfit dispatched 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, before a 2-0 defeat in Belgrade. By the end of November, Chelsea had been displaced from the top of the league following a 3-2 defeat at White Hart Lane, while a 2-1 defeat in Paris had left the Blues level on points with Napoli with their last match against the Italians at Stamford Bridge. In true Chelsea fashion, the Blues dispatched their opposition 2-0 with goals from Salah and Giroud, although they would lose top spot to PSG who ran riot 4-1 in Belgrade. A defeat at Wolves and a draw at Brighton saw Chelsea drop to 3rd, but they would roar back as Van Dijk got his first Chelsea goal in a 3-1 win at home to Leicester while Timo Werner’s goal for Liverpool at Wolves saw the Reds leapfrog Man City. By New Year’s Eve, it looked like it was turning into one of the closest title races since 1999…
- Liverpool 48pts
- Chelsea 47pts
- Tottenham 45pts
- Man City 44pts
- Arsenal 37pts
- Man Utd 29pts
- Watford 28pts
- Everton 26pts
- Wolves 26pts
Arsenal were struggling for consistency under Unai Emery, while Jose Mourinho had performed his classic 3rd season collapse and had been sacked by Man Utd after a 3-2 loss at Anfield, while Wolves were surprising everyone with a run on the Europa League spots. In the Carabao Cup, Chelsea had barrelled through Liverpool, Derby County and Bournemouth to set up a semi-final against Tottenham, while Man City had been surprisingly eliminated by Leicester City in the quarter finals. Top spot changed hands throughout January, as a brace from Salah gained Chelsea a point from 2-0 down at the Emirates before the Blues scrambled back on top at Bournemouth thanks to a first-minute goal from Aguero and a defensive masterclass from van Dijk and Courtois. The following weekend, a hat-trick from Aguero saw off Huddersfield 6-0, while a brace from Lukaku enabled Man City to come back to beat Arsenal 2-1 while Liverpool slipped further back. Then Chelsea came to the Etihad, and a goal from Salah and Sergio Aguero’s second hat-trick in a row saw Chelsea move clear at the top in a dramatic 4-3 win. In Europe, the Blues had put themselves in good stead as Aguero gave them a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich (as had Manchester City and Tottenham with first leg wins over Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund), but their FA Cup hopes had ended against Man Utd in a penalty shootout a few days after a 2-0 win over Leicester in the Carabao Cup Final. With eight matches left, Chelsea were two points behind Manchester City with a game in hand and having won 2-0 in their second leg with goals from Aguero and van Dijk (Tottenham had beaten Dortmund, while Man Utd had only managed to draw 1-1 in Paris and Man City had lost 5-2 in the Nou Camp.) The top spot continued to change hands, but in April Chelsea would lose 2-1 at Anfield as goals from Werner and Mane overcame one from Salah before Manchester City won the Manchester Derby to move four points clear of Chelsea with Liverpool two points further back. However, Man City then contrived to draw 0-0 at Turf Moor while Chelsea roared to a 4-1 victory at Old Trafford. Then came a pivotal week in Chelsea’s season. On 30th April, Aguero’s opener in the Nou Camp was overturned by a brace from Luis Suarez. On 5th May, Chelsea moved back to the top of the league with a 4-0 win over Watford. A day later, Man City leapfrogged them once more as Vincent Kompany’s piledriver gave them victory over Leicester. On 8th May, De Bruyne took Barcelona apart with two goals and an assist for Aguero before substitute Tammy Abraham put the boot in as Guardiola’s old club were dispatched 4-0 at Stamford Bridge to set up an all-London Champions League Final against Tottenham. The final day of the season had Chelsea fans dreaming as Brighton took the lead against Manchester City just before Aguero gave Chelsea a 1-0 lead at Leicester. Even after Laporte equalised, Chelsea still led on goal difference. But then Mahrez and Gundogan scored in the space of ten minutes, keeping the title in Manchester.
- Man City 93pts
- Chelsea 91pts
- Liverpool 87pts
- Tottenham 71pts
- Arsenal 67pts
- Man Utd 59pts
- Wolves 57pts
- Watford 51pts
- West Ham 51pts
Antonio Conte’s Man City would complete a League and Cup double with a 5-0 demolition of Watford, while Jurgen Klopp would get his first trophy as Liverpool manager with a 3-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League Final. The Champions League Final, however, ended up over and done with in ten minutes as Hazard and De Bruyne put Chelsea 2-0 ahead before a late goal from Aguero put the icing on the cake. Chelsea had their second European Cup, Guardiola had his third. It would be the last hurrah for the big four, however, as Eden Hazard departed for Real Madrid for over £100,000,000.
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