La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid turn their attentions to the Champions League this week as they look to overturn a one-goal deficit against Chelsea.
Atletico travel to London for Wednesday's last-16 clash after losing the first leg – held in Bucharest due to Covid-19 restrictions – 1-0 after a stunning overhead-kick from the Blues' French striker Oliver Giroud.
Atletico are currently sitting top of the Spanish league, four points clear of second-placed Barcelona and six ahead of city rivals Real Madrid. Diego Simeone's side were held to a goalless draw by Getafe on Saturday.
The Argentine said after the match: "We have been first almost all season, they said Barcelona weren't good and they went to Paris and could have won, they have a new president, enthusiasm and hope, and Madrid always go out to win in every game.
“We have two monsters behind us who want to be where we are.”
Chelsea, meanwhile, are enjoying a surge in form under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
The London club, who are on a 12-game unbeaten run under the German coach, drew 0-0 at Leeds United at the weekend and sit fourth in the Premier League, although they are a whopping 20 points behind leaders Manchester City.
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Atletico 0 Chelsea 1: player ratings from first leg
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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
