TACTICAL EVOLUTION: WHY JOAO PEDRO IS FLOURISHING UNDER LIAM ROSENIOR BUT FAILED MARESCA.
Joao Pedro scores two stunning goals as Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea overcome defensive chaos to beat Napoli and reach the UCL Last-16.
You’ve got to wonder just how many “celebratory” and “insightful” LinkedIn messages Liam Rosenior’s been wading through these past couple of weeks. Four wins out of five, 13 goals, two clean sheets—no way his inbox survived unscathed.
After all, Chelsea just beat the reigning Scudetto winners, away from home, in the biggest match of Rosenior’s short managerial life. They’re into the Champions League last-16, and he did it against one of Chelsea’s old guard. If that doesn’t earn him a pile of glowing recommendations on LinkedIn, what does?
Antonio Conte, as always, didn’t sugarcoat things. With half his Napoli squad in the treatment room—no Kevin De Bruyne, no David Neres, no Billy Gilmour, no Matteo Politano—he looked like a man bracing for a storm. Before kickoff, the ever-irritable Italian just shrugged and said, “If the league started today, everyone would put Napoli between 8th and 10th place.” He wasn’t wrong.
Napoli didn’t exactly look up for it in the opening 20 minutes. Chelsea wandered around, poking holes, looking for a way in, and eventually got a penalty for one of those handballs that’s somehow both obvious and infuriating—Reece James’ free kick smacked someone’s arm in the wall. You know the type.
Enzo Fernandez buried the penalty, and only then did Napoli seem to remember they actually had to win to stay in the competition—and that Chelsea had just one centre-back on the pitch.
Nobody was shocked when Napoli’s two goals both left Wesley Fofana stranded and alone. First, Antonio Vergara danced past him to score his first senior goal—pretty much turning Fofana inside out, Maradona-style, in the Maradona stadium. Then Rasmus Hojlund beat him to a low cross and poked it home. Tough night for Fofana.
Rosenior got his lineup wrong, plain and simple. Trevoh Chalobah came on after an hour and cleared a dangerous ball from what every Chelsea kid learns is “the John Terry position”—front post, first to react. That shouldn’t have been a revelation for Rosenior, but somehow it was. Maybe he doesn’t trust his centre-backs. It’s hard to blame him, but just refusing to play them doesn’t solve much.
What Rosenior did get right was unleashing Cole Palmer from the right after halftime—where he’s been most dangerous for Chelsea. Palmer didn’t waste time. The only head he turned belonged to Joao Pedro, setting him up for two truly stunning goals.
First, Palmer slipped a clever pass around the corner after a slick move out from the back. Pedro’s first touch gave him a breath of space, then he smashed a shot from the edge of the box across the keeper and into the top corner. Gorgeous strike.
His second was just as good—Palmer played a quick one-two, Pedro spun in behind the Napoli defence, collected Palmer’s perfectly weighted through ball, calmed himself, and tucked it away. That’s four goals in five games now for Pedro, who honestly looked lost under Enzo Maresca.
But the real story here—what Rosenior’s been banging on about since he arrived—is the character his team showed. Some people will write this off because Napoli’s squad was threadbare, or because of Conte’s miserable Champions League record, or because of where they sit in the table. They’re missing the point.
Winning in that stadium, with such a raw, inexperienced group—that’s no small thing. This could be a turning point for Rosenior and his players, not just for this season, but for whatever comes next.
MARTIN ODEGAARD AND KAI HAVERTZ MISS FINAL TRAINING; CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HOPES FADING
Arsenal's Champions League hopes are in doubt as Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz miss final training ahead of the Atletico tie.
Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz didn’t show up for Arsenal’s open training on Monday, just a day before the crucial Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid. Both missed Saturday’s comfortable 3-0 win over Fulham because of injuries: Odegaard with his knee and Havertz with a muscular problem.
Odegaard hurt his knee in last week’s draw with Atletico, while Havertz hasn’t played since picking up an issue against Newcastle. After beating Fulham, Mikel Arteta sounded confident they’d be ready for Atletico, but on Monday neither player was seen with the first team. That’s a big hint they won’t be involved at the Emirates.
Arteta is set to speak to the media soon, though don’t expect him to spill much; he’s known for keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to team news.
There were a couple more missing faces at London Colney. Jurrien Timber (groin) and Mikel Merino (foot) were also absent. Timber hasn’t featured since before the international break, and it’s unclear when he’ll return, but Arsenal hope it’s before the end of the season. Merino’s been out nearly three months since foot surgery. He might not play again this month.
On the upside, Bukayo Saka was back in training after getting subbed at halftime against Fulham, where he started his first Premier League game since mid-March.
Now, Arsenal really have a headache. Odegaard, who scored 15 goals last season, just hasn’t looked the same. Staff are increasingly worried about him; he’s missed 25 games in all competitions this year, thanks to a pileup of injuries: two freak shoulder issues, two muscular injuries, and the recurring knee problem. When he’s fit, Odegaard can still make magic happen; just look at his four assists across six games in January, but right now, his body keeps letting him down.
Havertz’s story isn’t much brighter. He’s managed only 20 appearances this season, mostly because of a serious knee injury in the summer and more muscle problems afterward. He’s Arsenal’s top earner at £280,000 a week, while Odegaard sits fourth at £240,000. Having two high-paid players sidelined so often is not ideal, and Arsenal need answers.
To try to sort out this ongoing injury crisis, Arteta has reportedly brought in a trusted expert from the medical field to lead an investigation. Arsenal hope this move finally sheds some light on their troubled injury record.
DECLAN RICE ACCUSES REFEREE OF CRUMBLING UNDER PRESSURE IN MADRID PENALTY DRAMA
Arsenal head to the Emirates with a 1-1 draw, but Declan Rice is fuming over the officiating standards in the Champions League.
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Declan Rice didn’t hold back after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw in Madrid, backing Mikel Arteta’s outrage and insisting the team deserved a “clear” penalty. He even went so far as to say that Atlético Madrid’s fans pushed the referee, Danny Makkelie, into changing his mind.
Arteta was livid. Late in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal, Makkelie first pointed to the spot for Arsenal after Eberechi Eze went down. But surrounded by Diego Simeone’s wild sideline antics and the roar of 70,000 Atleti supporters, Makkelie stared at the replay 13 times, then flipped his call and waved play on.
Looking back on it, Rice couldn’t believe it. “It’s a clear penalty,” he said. “I don't know how that's not been given. I think the fans got to him and changed his mind. UEFA is just a different world. In both boxes, you have to be so careful because referees call everything.”
Arsenal ran into trouble with VAR twice. First, the ref ruled Ben White handled a Llorente volley, and Julián Álvarez buried the resulting penalty, cancelling out Viktor Gyökeres’ earlier spot-kick. Rice felt for White. Talking with Stan Sport, he said, “If that happens in the Premier League, it doesn’t get given. The ball’s hardly off the ground, and it’s not even on target. But in the Champions League, the refs make these snap calls and whistle for everything. It’s just more strict. But whatever, we move on. We want to beat them next week.”
Despite the drama, Arsenal is still in a solid spot. They’ll head back to London, hoping the home crowd can push them into their first Champions League final since 2006. Bukayo Saka, freshly back from an Achilles injury, is counting on it. “We’d have liked to win, but we’ll take the draw. It’s halftime, and we’re full of confidence going back to the Emirates,” he said. “I’m sure the atmosphere will be even bigger, and that will give us a real boost.”
Before that return leg, Arsenal face Fulham at home on Saturday. They could put more heat on Manchester City by stretching their Premier League lead, though City still has games in hand and plays Everton next. The race is on.
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