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Chelsea edge closer to final with stalemate at Atlético Madrid | Chelsea edge closer to final with stalemate at Atlético Madrid |
(about 2 hours later) | |
There is no point dressing it up as something it was not. At this level it is rare to see such a lack of vibrant football, or so many occasions when passes are misplaced and two sides play with so little penetration. The setting was wonderful, in one of Madrid's great venues, with the Almudena cathedral as the impressive backdrop. The din was as good as it gets in Spain. It is just a shame the two sides produced such a stodgy game for the size of the occasion. | |
Chelsea, however, will not be too concerned if this match is added to the long list of games that is used to knock José Mourinho's ploys of conservatism and, ultimately, it is proven to be a valuable result. Nobody should be greatly surprised by their spoiling tactics and there is something to be said, once again, for their competitive courage in the face of a number of difficulties. | |
Petr Cech's dislocated shoulder was a considerable setback and another followed in the second half when John Terry damaged an ankle. Yet Chelsea never wilted. Mark Schwarzer coped ably as Cech's replacement and the tie is poised nicely for the return leg, even if Chelsea's list of absentees probably means Atlético should still be regarded as marginally the favourites. | |
Chelsea are certainly short of personnel given that Frank Lampard and Mikel John Obi both picked up yellow cards to mean they will be suspended. Gabi, the Atlético midfielder, will also be banned because of a yellow card but it is clearly not ideal for Mourinho that he now has to rely on Schwarzer for the remainder of the season. At 41 years and 128 days, the former Middlesbrough and Fulham goalkeeper became the oldest player to figure in the Champions League, taking Edwin van der Sar's record. | |
The number-crunchers can also provide statistics that, in the history of the European Cup, show that the away side goes through after a 0-0 draw in the first leg in 67% of matches. What is clear is that it will need another performance of defensive expertise if Chelsea are to buck that trend. | |
The Vicente Calderón stadium might not have the same gravitas as the Bernabéu or Camp Nou, but the acoustics are better and Diego Simeone's team, sitting defiantly at the top of La Liga, had the backing of a passionate and partisan crowd. It was a kaleidoscope of colour, with huge banners tumbling down from the vertiginous stands, and the acclaim that Fernando Torres received on his homecoming made way for raw spite when the Frente Atlético turned their attentions to Mourinho. | |
Yet Chelsea have silenced opposition crowds in Barcelona, Munich and Istanbul in the past few years, and their system, flooding midfield and breaking only sporadically on the counter-attack, had turned down the volume here, too, by the end. | |
The style of play was designed to smother, with Torres often cutting an isolated figure, but Chelsea have great qualities of structure and organisation and they are entitled to play to their strengths, even if in doing so they made it a prosaic and disjointed match. | |
On nights like these they are not an entertaining team but, in mitigation, they were also missing Eden Hazard while Torres would not have played had Samuel Eto'o been fit. They might not satisfy the purists but these are the tactics, roughly speaking, that have Chelsea trying to reach their third European final in successive seasons. | |
Cech was hurt as he jumped to turn a corner over his crossbar and David Luiz's push sent Raúl Garcia clattering into the goalkeeper while he was in mid-air. The fall was thudding and spectacular and Cech quickly signalled that he was unable to continue, needing extensive treatment before being led off with a blanket around the shoulder. | |
Atlético must have been encouraged by the sight of Schwarzer in the opposition goal, but his handling was immaculate and there was no sign of nerves in the biggest match of his club career. Chelsea's defence also did a fine job of keeping out Spain's top team. Ashley Cole did not look like a man who has been marginalised so abruptly this season. A considerable bit of Terry's thou-shall-not-pass mentality has rubbed off on Gary Cahill, and César Azpilicueta rose to the occasion. His block, as Diego Costa was shaping to shoot, was typical of the way Chelsea set about the opening half. | |
What they did not possess was a cutting edge. They failed to manage a shot on target until Lampard's effort early in the second half, and Atlético's fans could be forgiven for wondering when, or where, Torres lost his sureness of touch. Willian and Ramires had the energy and pace to join him occasionally, but this is not a front three to terrorise opponents at this rarified level. | |
Torres put a shot straight into the arms of Thibaut Courtois but Chelsea did little otherwise to see if their on-loan goalkeeper might have been affected by the fuss surrounding his involvement. For their part Atlético, despite vastly superior possession statistics, did not pass the ball penetratingly enough to put Schwarzer in any real danger. | |