The German proved his worth as Chelsea beat Real Madrid 2-0 on the night (3-1 on aggregate). The midfielder’s scintillating display helped his side progress through to the Champions League Final.
The Blues entered the game level with Real Madrid after the two sides cancelled each other out throughout the first-leg, although Los Blancos had a vital away goal to their name.
Thomas Tuchel made one change ahead of the game, that was to introduce Kai Havertz at the expense of Hakim Ziyech, it proved to be an outstanding decision as the German went onto have his best game in a blue shirt and inspired his side’s victory.
Chelsea started with real intensity and were 1-0 up when N’Golo Kante intercepted a pass in midfield. He played in Havertz who elegantly drifted into a one-on-one situation against Thibaut Courtois.
The German opted to chip the Madrid goalkeeper as he watched his effort crash off the bar before Timo Werner nodded home into an empty net.
Academy starlet Mason Mount put the nail in Real Madrid’s coffin when he put Chelsea 2-0 up with minutes to spare. It was again Kante who put Chelsea on the front foot again, and after brilliant work from Christian Pulisic, Mount was there to tap home from close range.
Despite scoring the opening goal of the game, it was Werner’s German counterpart who proved to be pivotal in Chelsea’s breakthrough. Havertz’s footballing intelligence to peal off Eder Miltao ensured that the Brazilian defender had to decide to either cover Havertz or close down Kante with the decision costing Los Blancos and allowing Werner to open the scoring.
The 21-year-old’s tireless running and hold up play, intertwining with the creative assets of Mount, Werner and Pulisic helped the Blues to progress through to their third ever Champions League Final, where they will face fellow English rivals Manchester City on the 28th May.
The German covered the most amount of ground tonight of any player on the pitch with 11.63 km. His sheer grit and determination optimised Chelsea who refused to give up on the night.
Although Havertz is known for being an attacking midfielder, it is becoming evident that he is started to feel at home when operating across the front line. He has everything in his game to go to the very top, when watching him play it seems as if the game is at his pace, and that’s an art you cannot teach any player.
The former Bayer Leverkusen player could have been on the scoresheet three times throughout the 90 minutes, as all areas of his game were put to the test when against one of the best defenders in the world in Sergio Ramos.
Ramos was constantly asked questions all night by the German, as he dominated the centre-back. It was no surprise when Havertz was in contention for Man of the Match, as there is no shadow of a doubt that it was his best game since joining the club.
It is evident that since he signed for Chelsea there has been an enormous amount of development in his game, especially when playing the false nine role. Fan’s began to question the forward, with rumours circulating that he had struggled to recover from COVID-19.
It’s safe to say the fan’s who questioned paying £70 million for the bright starlet are starting to see the true colours of Kai Havertz and he is destined to become an integral player at Chelsea in the coming years.
His display will be fresh in his manager’s mind ahead of an important game against Manchester City on Saturday, the fixture will essentially be a warm-up for the player before the two clubs meet in three weeks for the Champions League Final.
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