Does Chelsea’s huge win over Southampton offer any hope ahead of Real Madrid Champions League showdown?

After losing to Brentford 4-1 last weekend and then Real Madrid 3-1 in Champions League, Thomas Tuchel needed a response from his team during an away trip to Southampton. And boy did they get one. The Blues rolled to a stunning 6-0 victory over Southampton. When you pour in six, goals come from everywhere, but when Timo Werner puts the ball in the net twice, it means everything’s going right. Still, beating Southampton, no matter how soundly, while it’s nice, is a far cry from what they’ll need to do to stage a miracle comeback in Spain in the Champions League (you can watch the action on Paramount+) on Wednesday.

Southampton have been struggling, conceding nine goals while only winning one of their last five league matches leading up to hosting Chelsea, so there’s not a ton to take away from this match. But that doesn’t mean that Chelsea’s performance isn’t important. For a while it looked like Tuchel’s side was going to hand Southampton a 9-0 defeat for the third time in three years, but Chelsea did take their foot off the gas by the end.

Tuchel only made two changes bringing Timo Werner and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in for Christian Pulisic and Reece James. Werner has had a less than stellar start to his Chelsea career, but, playing on the left wing, he showed what made him a marquee siging, scoring two goals and assisting another from a shot off the post. It’s a performance that gives Tuchel something to think about. Pulisic has been the starter on the wing, but this was a reminder that both players can be dynamic when they’re on their game.

Chelsea opened the scoring only eight minutes into the match as Marcos Alonso was played into space by Mason Mount and didn’t miss the open net. Mount then placed a nice shot from outside the box to double Chelsea’s advantage. By 22 minutes into the match, the result was out of sight as Werner showed what he can do.

In a footrace against Southampton’s defenders, Werner was able to outplay the entire back line before putting a well placed shot past Fraser Forester. It’s goals like this that Werner excelled at in Germany, but that kind of space has been hard to come by in the Premier League. If Tuchel can unlock the fast-break potential, Werner’s instincts are still there.

Kai Havertz, Mount, and Werner again would close out the scoring as the trio ran the show on the day. Mason Mount specifically is critical to the success of the Blues. He had two goals and an assist and in Premier League play, Chelsea has a 6-2-1 record in matches where Mount has scored or assisted a goal. The issue is that in the new year, Mount has only scored or assisted in three league matches for Chelsea. The attack has generally struggled when he doesn’t produce, so a question for Tuchel is how can replicate similar form from facing Southampton into a comeback victory over Real Madrid. 

The Southampton result answers an important question for Chelsea, because it shows that despite recent results this is not a team spiraling away from their manager. Tuchel needed a result and his team provided it and then some. That’s good, but a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu is a totally different challenge. Can they stage a miracle comeback? Beating Southampton, no matter how thoroughly, doesn’t begin to answer that question.