The last time Chelsea FC advanced past the UEFA Champions League round of 16, it was 2013-14, when they reached the semi-finals and found themselves ousted by Atletico Madrid.
The Blues have won two Premier League titles since then, but as we pointed out, European glory has been rather elusive for them over that timespan. The ’13-’14 meeting was the only time these two sides have met in a UCL knockout round tie. Atletico have reached the knockout round in seven of the past eight tournaments.
Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid UCL Round of 16 Leg 1/2 FYIs
Kickoff: Tues Feb 23, 8pm, National Arena, Bucharest
Team news for both sides: go here
Series History: Chelsea wins 2, Draws 3, Atletico Madrid wins 2
Key Stat: Both sides have scored exactly 11 goals in the totality of this series
If Chelsea are to get revenge here, for what happened seven years ago, they’ll have to field a very strong team. Manager Thomas Tuchel didn’t wait long to really put his stamp on the team.
They’re winning more with defense, which is interesting considering how Stamford Bridge broke the bank to beef up in attack this summer.
The big controversy over this past weekend related to Tuchel’s subbing off Callum Hudson-Odoi and then his publicly throwing him under the bus.
However, the German later admitted that he was a little too harsh on the Englishman, saying that Hudson-Odoi could get a first team assignment here. We predict he will.
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction vs Atletico Madrid (3-4-3): Edouard Mendy; Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta; Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, Callum Hudson-Odoi; Mason Mount, Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham
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.