On a damp Glasgow evening, a reminder of Chelsea’s past and a vision of their possible future. While Graham Potter’s team made light work of Milan last night, 1,000 miles north-west of San Siro former flame Timo Werner and expected new arrival Christopher Nkunku were putting an end to Celtic’s Champions League hopes.
When Werner put Leipzig in front with an outstanding glancing header it was fair to pause and wonder why those moments were at such a premium during his time at Stamford Bridge. This was an elite finish from a player who evidently has it in a locker that was too often padlocked at Chelsea.
Until his goal the Germany international still looked like a player searching for the confidence he failed to pack when moving West London two and a bit years ago. And yet by the end of it all he was the game’s transformative player, also setting up Emil Forsberg late on to make it 2-0.
For Nkunku, who is almost certain to join Chelsea next year for a touch more than £50m following positive talks between the clubs, it was a night of frustration and a neat illustration of how quickly impressions can flip.
Early on Werner produced a series of immaculate one-touch passes as the visitors started well but when it came to bearing down on goal he appeared overcome by a dose of the yips – a pattern familiar to those who watched him closely at Chelsea.
Take the moment 20 minutes in when Andre Silva fed him on the left and, with Celtic’s high line unable to match his pace, Werner charged goalwards. There was ample opportunity to shoot or attempt a low cross towards Dominik Szoboszlai. Except he hesitated, appearing to overthink the move rather than rely on the instincts which had previously served him so well, and ended up seeing a weak shot blocked.
Dithering aside, Werner was at least more involved on the left of a midfield four than Nkunku had been ahead of him throughout a low quality first half.
There was a notable moment edging towards the break when the France international, and his forward partner Silva, received a severe telling off from head coach Marco Rose for the relaxed nature in which they tracked back as Celtic sought to counter. The hosts’ drive forward may not have amounted to anything but the absence of defensive intensity did not go down well.
Such low defensive work rate, you suspect, may not matter if he is banging in the goals but Nkunku only needs to look across the Leipzig dressing room to realise that is no sure thing in the Premier League.
Nkunku finally made an attacking impact a minute before half time when producing Leipzig’s first attempt on target – a low drive following a prolonged, patient build up that Joe Hart kept out with a boot. He had another tame shot saved on 71 and a penalty claim denied by a VAR check when Hart came off his line before Werner popped up.
"The biggest part of this goal belongs to André, I only had to connect my head to the ball," he said on German TV afterwards with a healthy dollop of understatement. And yet the confidence it provided him with was unmistakable. Forsberg’s goal came at the end of a break in which Celtic overcommitted in search of an equaliser but Werner was still alert and in the right place to feed the substitute who had replaced Nkunku two minutes earlier.
This was Werner’s seventh goal and second assist since returning and while Premier League purists will use any improved output to demonstrate the differing strength in leagues it is still just nice to see a player working to rediscover what was lost. In the season before leaving he found the net 34 times for Leipzig, in England he posted totals of 12 and 11 across all competitions.
The question now for Chelsea is whether Nkunku, on eight goals, can translate his form to cure an issue that has handcuffed them since Diego Costa’s departure five years ago. Or will he be another expensive Bundesliga arrival who, for one reason or another, cannot cut it?
