Atletico Drop Chelsea, Face Rivals Real in UCL Final

 1-3 

The first meeting between these two clubs last week ended in an uneventful nil-nil draw.  Atlético Madrid did not take advantage of playing at home and Chelsea did not produce an important away-goal.  Today the two met again for the second-leg of the Champions League semi-final.  Playing at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Atletico squared off to see would face Real Madrid in the final.

Over the weekend Chelsea won a huge match on the road to Liverpool despite resting a number of usual starters.  Torres did not start against Liverpool, but did start again today against Atlético.  Six defensive players also started for Chelsea with David Luiz and Azpilicueta in the midfield.  Captain John Terry also returned to the line-up quicker than expected after hurting his ankle in the previous meeting.

Chelsea first pulled ahead when Torres scored the opening goal.  Willian helped create the play when he was able to slip by two defenders and setup Azpilicueta for a cross.  Azpilicueta picked out Torres running towards him for a first-time shot to the near-post.  Torres' shot took a partial deflection off defender Miranda on the way towards the net to put the Blues on top.

That lead was taken away soon after though when Atletico Madrid responded and scored an all important away-goal.  From the edge of the box Thiago curled the ball to the back-post and Juanfran was able to keep it alive at the end line.  Juanfran volleyed the ball back across the face of goal which found it's way to Adrián López.  Hitting the shot first-time, López scored to put Atlético ahead on aggregate (44').

Coming into the second-half Chelsea needed to score again to survive the round so manager José Mourinho inserted Samuel Eto'o into the side, removing Ashley Cole in defense.  Before Eto'o could make an impact in the Chelsea offense he was caught making a clumsy challenge defending a set-piece.  Diego Costa drew the foul from Eto'o inside the box and proceded to score from the spot to extent Atlético's lead (60').

José Mourinho then added his final striker Demba Ba into the match, but Madrid only scored again shortly after he came on.  This time Arda Turan scored when his own header ricocheted off the crossbar and fell right back to his feet for a shot on an open net (72').

By this time Chelsea could not really expect to surmount a come-back and score three goals.  Atlético easily held on to the lead and secured their place in the final.  Next month the two clubs from Madrid will meet in Lisbon for the Champions League final in an epic meeting of cross town rivals.

Chelsea Tie Atletico In UCL Semi-Final

 0-0 

Chelsea travelled to Spain today for an important Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.  Today was the first-leg of the semi-final and Chelsea manager José Mourinho gave Torres the start up front for the Blues against his former club.  Torres had another tiresome day as Atletico were able to control the majority of possession forcing the Chelsea striker to remain isolated for most of the match.

Atletico were the team more likely to score in this first meeting between the clubs, but had trouble breaking down the stout Chelsea defense.  The Terry-Cahill tandem in the center of the defense won nearly every ball played into their box to deny a number of Atletico attacks and the supporting midfielders Mikel and David Luiz stopped anything coming through the middle.

Chelsea will have some concerns going forward though, as a pair of injuries could leave them short-handed.  Keeper Pert Cech came down hard while defending a corner and had to be replace by Mark Schwarzer less than twenty minutes into the match.  Also John Terry sustained an ankle injury late in the match forcing David Luiz to drop back into the Chelsea defense to cover his absence.

Today was not a particularly good showing for Chelsea who had little offensive presence, especially lacking in fullback support.  Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta did not get forward at all making it nearly impossible for Torres, or anyone else, to threaten the Atletico defense.

Chelsea have a huge match over the weekend against Liverpool before the second-leg replay with Atletico.  Both matches will truly test the mettle of José Mourinho's team as Premier League and Champions League titles are on the line.

Chelsea Pull Off Unlikely Comeback

 2-0 

Paris Saint-Germain enjoyed a two goal margin over Chelsea as the two met at Stanford Bridge for the second-leg of this Champions League fixture.  Winning 3-1 in Paris last week, P.S.G. came into today's match knowing that they needed another strong defensive performance to advance in the tournament.  Chelsea, on the other hand, knew that they must score two goals if they had any hopes of staying alive int the Champions League.

Eden Hazard was in the starting line-up for Chelsea, but lasted less than twenty minutes.  He was replaced by Andre Schürrle who found himself in the right place later in the first-half.  A long throw-in for Chelsea came into the P.S.G. box and David Luiz was able to get a flick header on the ball.  The flicked ball fell for Schürrle right in front of goal and he scored with a free volley (32').

Still needing more attacking presence, Chelsea inserted Demba Ba into the offense in place of holding midfielder Frank Lampard in the second-half.  Torres was also brought in for the final ten minutes of the match in a last-ditch effort by manager José Mourinho.  It was Ba though that managed to get the final goal to put Chelsea in front.  Azpilicueta fired a low shot towards goal that P.S.G. were unable to clear.  Instead Ba was able to get a sweeping left-foot on the ball from close range to score (87').

With just a few minutes left in the match, P.S.G. could not respond and thus eliminated from the Champions League.  That precious away-goal last week in France proved to be the deciding factor for Chelsea as the Blues advance to the semi-finals.

Chelsea Tie Galatasaray In Champions League

 1-1 

Playing today in Istanbul, Chelsea faced Galatasaray in a Champions League match.  In this first-leg meeting, former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was featured in the Galatasaray offense, though his old club did well to keep him quiet throughout the match.  Fernando Torres got the start at striker for Chelsea and was more effective than his counterpart.

Chelsea took an early lead when leftback Azpilicueta was allowed to run all the way into the opposite box.  Galatasaray keeper Muslera came off his line to stop Azpilicueta, but the leftback played the ball square to Torres before he could reach him.  With the keeper way out of position, Torres scored easily on an empty net (9').

Galatasaray manager Roberto Mancini, formerly with Manchester City, decided the 4-4-2 was not working and made a change after only half an hour.  Izek Hajrovic was replaced by Yekta Kurtulus and Drogba was left as the lone striker.  The change was an improvement and Galatasaray stopped Chelsea from scoring any other goals.

In the second-half Galatasaray even managed to level the score on a set-piece.  Centerback Aurelien Chedjou came forward for a corner-kick delivered by Wesley Sneijder.  Chedjou was left unmarked on the play and scored an easy volley right in front of goal to equalize (64').

The match ended in a draw with Chelsea having a slight advantage going forward.  The away goal currently puts Chelsea ahead with the second leg yet to be played.  Galatasaray have to score in the replay in London if they want to have any chance to advance in Champions League.  Rather surprisingly Chelsea are the only club of the four English clubs in the Champions League to score in the first leg of their fixture.  Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United are all behind by two goals in their Champions League match-ups.