Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid – We’ll see an attack-minded Simeone side
All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge in London when Diego Simeone and his men come with the fight against the Thomas Tuchel-led side on Wednesday night for a place in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
The Blues lead the tie 1 nil via an Olivier Giroud goal in the first leg and will be looking to consolidate on the result and avoid a loss at home against the Rojiblancos to secure a place in the next stage of the competition.
Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, need a win to seal a place as a draw won’t cut it for them. The exciting thing about this matchup, in my opinion, is that the Spanish side will be forced to come out and play attacking football.
The last time they faced Chelsea in the knockout stages of the UCL, they ran out overall winners, 3:1 on aggregate. The first leg of the encounter ended in a barren draw in Spain before they visited Stamford Bridge and beat the Blues 3:1 on the night.
Atletico Madrid have been known to be a very pragmatic side but will have to throw the approach out of the window for this game and come out all guns blazing.
Adopting a defensive approach would be doom for Diego Simeone’s men as the Blues will wear them out with possession-based football and eventually come out tops.
However, I can bet that this won’t be the case as this game would mean more than a final to them. The Blues actually have a game on their hands in this one, and it will be a very exciting game if you ask me.
Chelsea lead 1 nil but nothing is cast in stone yet. The Blues dominated the first leg in the neutral venue and restricted Atletico to no shot on target throughout the entire game. Edouard Mendy was basically on a holiday in the game but I’m sure this won’t be the case at Stamford Bridge.
Atletico Madrid have gotten positive results in their recent visits to England and will be counting on it to work for them on Wednesday night. The fact is that we’ll see an attack-minded Simeone side on the night and I can’t wait to see how it pans out.
This game will easily pass for Thomas Tuchel’s biggest test yet since he became Chelsea’s boss. He has not lost yet but there are chances of a first loss for him in this one if his side gets complacent after the first leg win, especially in the absence of Mason Mount and Jorginho.
Regardless, I expect both coaches to be cautious at the start. Thomas Tuchel can afford to be cautious in this but Diego Simeone’s side will have to put on their attacking boot as the game progresses.
This match will be a cracker! We’ll see a very attack-minded Atletico side in this game, and hopefully, this should be the case eventually. It’s not like they have a choice, except success in the UCL is not one of their priorities this season, which I doubt is the case.
