UCL: Christensen expects Chelsea to be on the front foot

Chelsea’s Champions League clash at Juventus on Wednesday offers the perfect opportunity to rediscover their attacking rhythm and respond to a 1-0 Premier League defeat by Manchester City over the weekend, defender Andreas Christensen said.

Chelsea’s 5-3-2 formation was designed to frustrate City but offered little other than defensive solidity with manager Thomas Tuchel questioning his tactics after a second-half goal from Gabriel Jesus handed them their first league defeat.

“It’s the perfect game to respond, absolutely,” Christensen told the club’s website about the trip to Italy. “It’s not nice to lose our first match, but now we have another game coming up very quickly and it’s another tough game as well.

“It’ll be a tough game but it’s a great opportunity to get back to playing football the way we want to play, the way we see ourselves, playing on the front foot again.”

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Christensen said that Champions League titleholders Chelsea do not view themselves as a defensive team.

“We’ve shown in other games we can play with a back five or a back three with quality. We want to be on the front foot,” the Denmark international said.

Chelsea secured an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Zenit St Petersburg at Stamford Bridge in their Group H opener while leaders Juventus beat Malmo 3-0.