Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has already made it public that Mateo Kovacic will start in his midfield for the Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening. Given the suspension issues that the club have in midfield right now, this is his time to shine, and that’s perfect, given how the Croatian was rested for the goalless draw at Leeds.
Speaking of squad rotation, yielding another almost certain pick for the first team, Olivier Giroud sat out the last three Premier League matches entirely and hasn’t even featured since another nil-nil draw, the one versus Manchester United on Feb. 28. Given how he scored the only goal of the first leg of this tie, he should get a starting nod here.
Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid UCL Round of 16 Leg 2/2 FYIs
Kickoff: Wed, Mar 17, 8pm, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea Team News: go here
Aggregate: Chelsea leads 1-0
Odds: Chelsea +115 Draw +220 Atletico Madrid +250
Series History: Chelsea wins 3, Draws 3, Atletico Madrid wins 2
Key Stat: The Blues are +1 in goal differential for the totality of this series
Another player that many supporters would like to see get a first team assignment here is Christian Pulisic. He finally got his first start in the Premier League under Tuchel, but unfortunately, failed to really impress. Then again the whole attack itself wasn’t very special or notable.
However, Kai Havertz seems to be showing some improvement as of late, so we’re guessing he gets in the first 11 too.
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction (3-4-2-1) at Leeds United: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Chillwell, Kovacic, Kante, Alonso; Pulisic, Havertz; Giroud
Prediction: Chelsea 0, Atletico 0
Tuchel’s defense-first approach may not be beautiful, but it gets results.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.