UCL: Chelsea in must-win match against Atletico Madrid
Chelsea will be looking to progress to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2014 when they face Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in the second-leg of their last-16 tussle at Stamford Bridge this evening, kick-off 8:00pm.
The Blues, who extended their unbeaten start to life under head coach Thomas Tuchel to 12 matches on Saturday, playing out a goalless stalemate with Leeds United at Elland Road, hold a one-goal advantage from the first-leg in Bucharest last month.
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Frenchman Olivier Giroud’s second-half overhead-kick was enough to seal the win for the Blues, meaning they have an away goal to take into tonight’s showdown under the lights in west London.
But although Chelsea are in the driving seat to progress to the last-eight of the competition and have home advantage on their side, head coach Tuchel, who has watched his team keep five clean sheets in their last five matches, is taking nothing to chance, insisting his side must win the game and play with aggression.
“I can only think of tomorrow to play this game,” Tuchel said during Tuesday afternoon’s pre-match press conference. “We have big respect because we play the leaders of Spain.
“We did an outstanding job in Bucharest and have the advantage with a home game at Stamford Bridge which makes us very confident because we don’t have to travel.
“The set up is the usual set up. This is good for us. We feel good to be in our hotel and have the same schedule as in normal games. This is very, very good.