11 April 2014, the day when the Champions league semi-finalists were decided and two amazing fixtures were drawn. Atletico Madrid drew Chelsea while Real Madrid drew Bayern Munich. Both include heavyweights versing each other, many would find the Real Madrid, Bayer Munich match favorable because of the attacking powers they boast but many forget that attack without defense is nothing and thats exactly what the Chelsea VS Atletico Madrid match offers.
Mourinho VS Diego Simeone, two of my favourite managers going against each other on the biggest competition of them all, the Champions League. As i discussed in my previous post, i personally draw many similarities between Mourinho and Simeone, their tactics, defensive approach, intelligent pressing and preserving a 1 goal lead to name a few. I would like Chelsea to win it but again, it would hurt to see Atletico Madrid go out at this stage given their accomplishments with a limited squad.
Two teams with the best defensive record in the champions league and their respective leagues in which they compete in. A true battle of who can breakdown each others defenses better and get that crucial goal.
In the eyes of many, it gonna end up as a draw which and then ultimately end up in penalties or Atletico Madrid being hands down favorites because of a prolific goalscorer which Chelsea lack and that is Diego Costa but again, Chelsea boast an even better midfield both on the field and on the bench. Keeping in mind Nemanja Matic and Mohammed Salah are both cup-tied and Hazard being injured, many would argue Chelsea would fall but that was not the case against PSG where Schurrle stepped up from the bench and scored the first goal whilst constantly creating problems for the defense. Oscar and Willian both were amazing but Willian stole the limelight with his energetic force and broad vision. With the engine and running power of Ramires serving a ban, Chelsea looked up on the old guard of Chelse, Lampard to step up and take his place and he also duly delivered while the regular Chelsea player David Luiz was "a monster" in midfield as described by his coach Mourinho.
Atletico dont offer such big names as Chelsea but still manage to outperform giants like Barcelona when it matters most. Many may argue that Atletico were lucky since they had a ball possession of less that 40% but remember, both the times Chelsea played against Barcelona in their Champions league winning campaign, they too had a very low ball possession but still beat them. They got the one goal and just like Atletico, played full defensive.
Atletico Madrid have an experienced midfield but so have Chelsea. Atletico boast the likes of Koke who has performed consistently this whole season and has created 57 key passes this season in the La Liga, get 13 assists which is the highest this season in the la liga and score 6 goals. All this at the tender age of 22. His ability to hold up play is indescribable
Chelsea's defense will have problems in the first leg since Ivanovic has taken a 1 match ban and it will be upto Ashley Cole in my eyes to fill the shoes of Ivanovic or swap sides with Azpilicueta since Azpi naturally playss on the right side of defense and let Ashley Cole take up the natural left side he plays. Cole has been out of favor under Mourinho this season at Chelsea despite being one of the first names in previous season and this may well be the few chances he gets to prove that he still has alot to offer.
With Atletico playing their usual back line and sustaining no bans, it will be interesting to see how Chelsea will breakdown the strongest defense in all competitions this season who play similar to them. Atletico boast the likes of Diego Godin and Miranda in their ranks and in all honesty, are one of Europe's best center backs. Both of them have made a combined total of 365 clearances in the La Liga this season and 116 interceptions as per whoscored. Add Juanfran, Felipe Luis and Courtois in between the sticks and you have got the perfect defense anyone can dream of.
The main reason why according to many people Chelsea will fail is because of the lack of a prolific talisman upfront to give them the edge in all competitions. With each of the semi finalists boasting a striker who can score goals, Real Madrid with Karim Benzema, Bayern Munich with Mario Mandzukic and Atletico Madrid with Diego Costa, it will be interesting to see who Chelsea rely on to be the striker. I would personally go for Demba Ba for Chelsea in the first leg. Ba has been the most clinical striker this season for Chelsea scoring 3 goals in 4 appearances for Chelsea this season. If Ba doesnt perform, Etoo could always be brought on to lead the strike force. Costa just for the note has scored over just 1 goal on average in the Champions league and has scored 25 goals in 30 appearances for the Los Colchoneros.
The talking point of this match is almost definitely Courtois going up against him parent club, Chelsea. With speculations before the draw leading to the fact that Courtois will be ineligible to face his parent club as part of the agreement before his loan move unless they pay 8 million euros in total which the director said was 'too expensive' for them to afford. . These speculations were quickly put to bed by UEFA standing up and issuing a statement that Courtois should be eligible to play and Chelsea risk being fined since they would be breaching the fair play rules and shortly after, Chelsea's executive director gave his voice and allowed Courtois to play.
It most definitely will be an interesting battle since rumours from the Chelsea dugout suggest that Mourinho is ready to make Courtois his number 1 goalkeeper next season ahead of the long time keeper, Cech who has made many mistakes this season on the pitch. Courtois will give it his best performance in order to convince Mourinho why he should choose him over Cech while Cech will have to play to perfection in this match to defend his status as Chelsea's no.1 keeper.
Overall, this may just be Simeone's greatest challenge so far especially with "The Special One" on Chelsea's side. Keeping in mind that both teams play similar football and both the coaches are tactical geniuses, it will be interesting to see how the match pans out and especially because Mourinho has played against Simeones side when he was manager of Real Madrid and knows a thing or two about Simeones tactics. As for now, we can only wait and watch what the match will bring to us. "We envy teams financially but we dont envy anyone financially" Diego Simeone.
Note: The whole article is what i feel and our views may differ. You can give your views by commenting.
Sources:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2014/04/11/4745560/uefa-allows-courtois-to-face-chelsea?ICID=HP_BN_1
huna kazi
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