Cesar Azpilicueta: Chelsea captain's tactics before Havertz's Club World Cup penalty analysed

Kai Havertz owes Cesar Azpilicueta for the assist after he scored the winning penalty for Chelsea in their Club World Cup success on Saturday night.

Azpilicueta won the penalty after his shot hit Luan Garcia’s hand and the Chelsea captain then produced a 1,000 IQ move to deceive Palmeiras’ players.

The Spaniard picked up the ball as if to take the spot-kick. Palmeiras’ players then spent a considerable length of time trying to put Azpilicueta off.

When the drama died down, Azpilicueta handed the ball to Havertz, who faced no harassment, and the German cooly scored from 12 yards.

It was a really clever move that will likely be seen more and more in football now.

“Kai knew that he was going to shoot so it was to release the pressure from him. It was a decisive moment and Kai is one of the best penalty takers,” Azpilicueta said, per Chelsea’s website.

“I waited and listened to everything their players told me, and I think it worked which is the most important thing.”

An in-depth Twitter thread breaking down Azpilicueta’s tactics further explains the intricacies of it.

Chelsea have deployed the intimidation tactic when facing a penalty themselves, so they know all about it. Smartly, they stayed one step ahead by conjuring a counter to it, as explained by football psychology researcher Geir Jordet.

“A counter-measure in these situations is for the penalty taker to wait outside the area & arrive late at the penalty mark – a strategy [Liverpool’s Mo] Salah now employs,” Jordet writes. 

“Chelsea took it to the next level, by appointing their captain as a decoy penalty taker. Clever. Effective. Beautiful.”

Check out the entire thread below.

Azpilicueta’s journey to becoming a Chelsea legend is iconic.

Signed from Marseille for