Atletico Madrid v Chelsea player ratings: Tough night for Luis Suarez, while Olivier Giroud shines with stunning goal

Chelsea have the advantage after brilliant win against La Liga leaders

ATLETICO MADRID RATINGS: Jan Oblak - 6, Made some decent stops but had no chance of saving Olivier Giroud’s overhead kick. AFP

Marcos Llorente - 6, Playing out of his usual position, Llorente struggled to get the better of Marcos Alonso. Was booked for a cynical foul on Werner after losing the ball cheaply. AP

Stefan Savic - 6, Did a steady job making a lot of clearances, often benefitting from the protection in front of him. EPA

Felipe - 7, Made some superb interventions, including a header to get rid of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross, as well as clearance to deal with Timo Werner’s ball in. Reuters

Mario Hermoso - 6, Showed good defensive awareness but the quality wasn’t there in his ball distribution, as his attempted clearance led to the goal. AFP

Thomas Lemar - 7, Was often pinned back by Hudson-Odoi but put in a lot of good work defensively. PA

Angel Correa - 6, Was very willing to sacrifice himself to help his team defensively, but sometimes did it too much. AFP

Koke - 7, He’s Diego Simeone’s midfield general and the Spaniard’s pressing was outstanding. AFP

Saul Niguez - 7, His positioning was superb, while the midfielder also used the ball sensibly whenever he had it. Reuters

Joao Felix - 5, The Portuguese attacker was incredibly quiet throughout, though he did show discipline in his display. AP

Luis Suarez - 6, Suarez was such a nuisance and almost managed to get under Antonio Rudiger’s skin with his antics, but was unable to test Edouard Mendy too much. PA

SUBS: Moussa Dembele (Correa 82’) – N/R, Came in with Atletico chasing the game, but couldn’t get into any shooting positions. EPA

Renan Lodi (Felix 82’) – N/R, Was fairly precise in his play but couldn’t help Atletico create the opening they needed. Getty

Lucas Torreira (Saul 83’) – N/R, Came in and looked to replicate what Saul had done throughout the match. Reuters

Vitolo (Hermoso 84’) – N/R, Didn’t leave a massive mark on the game, but definitely left one on Reece James. EPA

CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy - 6, The stopper may not have conceded, but that is because he was rarely worked. He looked very shaky with the ball at his feet. Reuters

Cesar Azpilicueta - 7, Did a superb job whenever called upon defensively, while also refusing to rise to Suarez’s antics. Reuters

Andreas Christensen - 7, While there were slight lapses of judgement that resulted in giving away needless free-kicks, Christensen put in a resolute performance. EPA

Antonio Rudiger - 8, The German made some vital interventions, such as a block shortly after the goal, and stood strong defensively throughout. Reuters

Callum Hudson-Odoi - 7, Playing at wing-back, Hudson-Odoi threatened to open up the Atletico defence at times, while he didn’t neglect his defensive responsibilities. PA

Jorginho - 6, Came so close to releasing his teammates in threatening positions, but his passes were just off the mark. Put in a good shift defensively. AFP

Mateo Kovacic - 6, Made some great runs forward and battled well, but the Croatian’s decision-making could have been better at times. Reuters

Marcos Alonso - 6, Did a very good job defensively, largely nullifying Atletico’s threat down the right, and got some decent deliveries into the box. EPA

Mason Mount - 7, Got booked early on in the game, but continued to be a central figure in a lot of Chelsea’s attacking plays. There were moments of creativity, while his battling led to the opener. EPA

Olivier Giroud - 7, Fought well with very few chances coming his way, but the Frenchman managed to score a beautiful overhead kick. EPA

Timo Werner - 6, Missed a decent chance in the early stages but constantly showed for the ball and looked pretty sharp throughout his time on the pitch. EPA

SUBS: Hakim Ziyech (Kovacic 74’) - N/R, Struggled to make a large impact, with his effort from range being blocked. AFP

N’Golo Kante (Mount 74’) – N/R, Won the ball within seconds of getting on the pitch and showed plenty of energy. Reuters

Reece James (Hudson-Odoi 80’) – N/R, His introduction made Chelsea’s shape more of a back five, and the 21-year-old stood strong. EPA

Kai Havertz (Giroud 87’) – N/R, Showed his usual composure and helped to wind the clock down with some intelligent touches. EPA

Christian Pulisic (Werner 87’) – N/R, Took a couple of big hits but carried on to help his side see out the game. AP

Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel praised his players for suffocating Atletico Madrid with relentless pressing as they beat Diego Simeone's side 1-0 in Bucharest in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie.

Olivier Giroud's stunning overhead kick in the second half handed Chelsea the advantage going into the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 17 but Tuchel was most pleased with how his players implemented their game plan and deprived the La Liga leaders of space and the ball.

"We knew they were ready to suffer with eight people in the box. The intention was to keep the intensity high and we did that very well. We never let them breathe or come out for counter-attacks," Tuchel said.

"We wanted to dominate in the opponents' half, to never lose concentration, not to make any easy mistakes and always be aware of quick counter-attacks for all their quality. It was a very disciplined performance, a deserved shut out."

Tuchel has led Chelsea to six wins in eight games in all competitions since succeeding Frank Lampard in January but this was his most significant result.

The German said the players were following his methods well but they had to keep on practising their newfound style of play as if they were a band.

"It's like learning a new song, you have to repeat it and repeat it so it gets more fluid and more in the rhythm. It's about repetition, we created a lot of situations where we could start attacks and I'm very happy with that," he said.

"I'm confident because I see the will, the hunger, the desire. Today was one of the toughest challenges to open up a defence like Atletico but we can and we will not stop pushing the guys and encourage them to improve and keep going."

Atletico coach Simeone said he felt the game had been tight and did not agree that his side had been second best.

"Both sides worked really hard, there were really few opportunities to score and they took theirs, but apart from that it was really even," said the Argentine, whose side have won only once in their last five matches in all competitions.

"But if you'd told me in September we'd be 1-0 down after the first leg of the last 16 in the Champions League and top of La Liga, I'd have signed up for it."