Perhaps this was, after all, proof that Chelsea do not quite have the depth of squad to ride out any storm. The changes made by Thomas Tuchel, most enforced and some quirky, resulted in an uneven performance and a draw that means the west London club finish second in their group and could face the mighty Bayern Munich, the regal Real Madrid or the exceptionally impressive Ajax in the knockout phase.
There was a suggestion that even before kick-off in St Petersburg the Chelsea manager had one eye on the Premier League game against Leeds United on Saturday, especially as progression in the Champions League was already assured. However, the manner in which the holders twice gave away the lead clearly annoyed Tuchel deeply, coming four days after his team did the same against West Ham United.
“We concede six goals in two matches,” Tuchel said. “We gave the lead away four times in these two matches. Nobody can be happy today. It’s not time to speak about individual performances.
“The level of physical investment was high enough to be the better team but when that dropped, they were in trouble. We can show reaction but once we have the lead, we give it away again.”
It all started beautifully before it petered out. After one minute and 23 seconds Chelsea took the lead with their fastest goal in the competition. A Ross Barkley corner was flicked on by Andreas Christensen and tapped in at the far post by Timo Werner.
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It formed part of a blistering start in Russia, and had Romelu Lukaku and Barkley been slightly more accurate in their passing, Tuchel’s team would have been three ahead after five minutes. Then came a lull and the opportunity for the home side to threaten. Kepa Arrizabalaga, chosen in goal ahead of Édouard Mendy, who uncharacteristically wobbled against West Ham on Saturday, needed to think quickly and dash towards Malcom to block his promising effort.
With none of his first-choice midfielders available, Tuchel experimented, placing Reece James who has excelled at wing back this season, in the middle. Any team would struggle with N’Golo Kanté, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic all missing at the same time. Kovacic would have been fit to play but has Covid and Chelsea are definitely missing his quiet orchestration from the centre of the pitch.
“We had to be a bit creative,” Tuchel said of James’s new role. “The target is to put him back on the wing.”
Tuchel’s Rubik’s Cube has been the challenge of how to integrate Saúl Ñíguez, who suffered from a disappointing Premier League debut in September. The German chose to play the Spaniard on loan from Atletico Madrid out wide for the first time, and for the opening quarter of an hour he was involved and confident. But, like many of his team-mates, he lost his way and was substituted in the second half.
There was a lack of urgency to Chelsea that Tuchel decided was the consequence of his players failing to give their all.
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“It has to hurt at half-time,” he said. “You have to raise your level of concentration and overcome adversity. The basics have to be pushed to a higher level.”
A Douglas Santos cross was met by Claudinho, who remained unchallenged for his header past Kepa. The visitors looked every inch a patchwork side in that moment, with the players seemingly bemused by whose responsibility it had been to close down the cross and then challenge for the header. It then became much more embarrassing as Sardar Azmoun beat the high Chelsea line, after Barkley had lost possession, to round Kepa and give Zenit St Petersburg the lead. Moments later Kepa saved well with an outstretched left arm from Azmoun to allow his team-mates to draw breath.
Not much changed after Tuchel’s half-time address. Mason Mount was asked to play deeper to help protect the relatively flimsy midfield, but the game was still far too open. Gradually, though, Chelsea found some composure and equalised with Barkley playing a one-two with Werner who set up Lukaku for a simple finish.
Kepa was needed, again, to save from Azmoun as the home side performed with the freedom of having nothing to lose — a Europa League berth already secured as the third-placed team in the group — and buoyed by their loyal ultras. In the 85th minute Chelsea sparked into life again as Christian Pulisic teed up Werner for an unstoppable shot on the turn. Werner had exhibited many of his familiar flaws but was still Chelsea’s most effective contributor with two goals and an assist.
Zenit, who had also been troublesome opponents at Stamford Bridge, remained optimistic and in the fourth minute of added time Magomed Ozdoev’s 18-yard shot beat Kepa, to the joy of all connected to Juventus, who topped the group after their 1-0 win over Malmo.
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“We are having a tough moment,” César Azpilicueta, the Chelsea captain, said. “We lost top spot in the Premier League and in the Champions League in our group. We need to recover the high intensity and solidity to not give away chances.”
