Chelsea host Atletico Madrid on St. Patrick’s Day evening, for the second leg of their round of 16 tie in the UEFA Champions League. The Blues can come in to this one a little relaxed as they secured an “away goal” in the first leg, which was staged on neutral ground.
Olivier Giroud’s sublime overhead scoring strike in the first leg is/was the lone goal of the tie so far. Looking ahead to the second leg, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has some selection issues to deal with.
Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid UCL Round of 16 Leg 2/2 FYIs
Kickoff: Wed, Mar 17, 8pm, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction: 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
Midfielders Jorginho and Mason Mount are suspended here, as both haved picked up three bookings thus far in the competition. So it looks like Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante will get two starting spots in the midfield, out of neccessity.
Elsewhere, central defender Thiago Silva had recovered enough from a substantial thigh injury to make the bench for the win over Everton, but he suffered a setback last week and was left out for the draw at Leeds, so it’s unlikely he features here.
Another doubt for this one is Tammy Abraham, as the central forward missed out against Leeds due to a nagging ankle issue. He’s not totally ruled out here, but probably won’t feature.
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.