Chelsea face Atletico Madrid in European Cup clash in Bucharest

Chelsea’ Champions League Round of 16’s first leg tie against Atletico Madrid will be taking place in unfamiliar surroundings.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the two teams are set to face off in Bucharest’s Arena Națională on Tuesday evening.

Chelsea come into this tie in great form and are yet to taste defeat in their last seven games, their most recent result being a 1-1 draw with Southampton at the weekend.

On-loan Liverpool midfielder Takumi Minamino showed great composure in the first half to slot past goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, but eight minutes after the break, Mason Mount brought the Blues level from the penalty spot after the midfielder was tripped up inside the box by Danny Ings.

The draw saw Chelsea drop fifth just two points behind West Ham in fourth following their 2-1 victory against Tottenham.

Atletico Madrid sit top of the Spanish La Liga and three points clear of rivals Real Madrid, but come into this game having just one won from their last four league games.

The Spanish side were slumped to a surprising 2-0 loss to Levante at the weekend, a result that meant a first home league defeat for Diego Simeone’s side since December 2019.

The hosts weren’t at their best in the group stages winning just two of their six fixtures, but a total of nine points saw them finish second in Group A.

Chelsea won four of their last five Champions League games and were winners of Group E with 14 points.

The West London side have won the competition once in 2012 after beating Bayern Munich on penalties, whilst the Madrid club have never won the Champions League but have reached the finals twice.

Thomas Tuchel led PSG to last season’s final where they lost 1-0 to Bayern, but he will be hoping to go one step further and win it with his new side this season.

Simeone’s side have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last seven games and Chelsea will look to capitalise on that, hoping to score an away goal to take back to London.

But the Blues will have to be aware of Luis Suarez, who will look to continue his excellent form in front of goal. He is currently Atletico Madrid’s top goal scorer with 16, which is also the joint most in La Liga, alongside Lionel Messi. The forward hasn’t scored yet in this Champions League but he will be hoping to put that right in Hungary.

Match Facts

Both teams have faced each other eight times with two wins coming for both sides and three draws. Their last meeting came back in December 2017, where it finished 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Team news

For Atletico Madrid

Atleti will be without Jose Gimenez, Yannick Carrasco and Sime Vrsaljko who are all out injured whilst former Tottenham Hotspur defender Kieran Trippier is suspended for breaking betting rules.

For Chelsea

Thiago Silva who has missed the last four games is expected to miss out again due to an injury, Chelsea have confirmed, so Andreas Christiansen could replace the Brazillian.

Callum Hudson-Odoi will look to start on Tuesday night looking to impress his manager after the 20-year-old was substituted 31 minutes after coming on against Southampton.

Tammy Abraham is available despite coming off holding an ice pack on his leg after the forward was substituted at half-time on the weekend. Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic are fit again and could feature.