Malmö 1-2 Chelsea: Maurizio Sarri survives Sweden under the scrupulous eye of the blues

Rarely will a victory for a team worth nearly £ 450 million against a team of less than £ 20 million would have a relief comparable to that of Chelsea on Malmo for Maurizio Sarri.

The Italian is at a low this week after the fall of Sunday against Manchester City, and the prospect of a European killing has made many believe that he might not see the week.

The presence of Bruce Buck at Sarri's pre-game press conference and before the match on Thursday only made these suggestions intensify, the Blues president obviously wishing to take a closer look the way Sarri and his team work together.

All that he would have learned, however, is not clear. It was not a vintage "Sarriball" show from Chelsea, but they did the work and did everything to make their best run in the Champions League very open.

The Blues lacked uncertainty in the last third and had to rely on a rare defensive error of a disciplined Malmo to break the stalemate, with Ross Barkley finally able to knock out Pedro's center. and go home at close range for his first European goal. .

This is also the first time that Chelsea finds the net away from Stamford Bridge in 2019, thus ending a 45-day scoreless run to the outside since the winner of N Golo Kante at Crystal Palace end of December. It may not have been the most eye-catching goal since Sarri's takeover, but it probably brought the most relief.

The winner of Chelsea was at least more aesthetic – Olivier Giroud provided the bottom of the wheel in Willian's center-center to find the net for the fourth consecutive Europa League match – but despite that Sarri evening ended at the disturbing sight of a pbad him Anders Christensen scored a low shot in front of Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Only Fulham has conceded more goals in the Premier League than Chelsea since the beginning of the year. And with Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham in the next 13 days, we fear that their worst defeat in 23 years in Bournemouth and the worst in 28 years at the Etihad stadium are not yet a thing of the past.

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Fortunately for Sarri, in the middle of this trio of difficult national meetings, is the return leg against Malmo. Despite the margin of a goal, it is unlikely that Uwe Rosler's team could make an epic return to West London.

Instead, Sarri will use the second step to line up a larger number of his marginal players and, since some are still worried that some of these more regular starters will not expend the maximum effort for the head coach, that could give others the opportunity to show what they can. to do in the break-in.

The 60-year-old will have to see a general improvement over Malmo's performance, but after last month, it was a small step in the right direction. More difficult tests will soon happen on the horizon, but if Sarri wants to survive until March, these are tests that he really must succeed.