Closed Atletico Madrid v Chelsea

[Thendo 1,088]

Would've liked Schurrle-Torres-Willian if we are going for 4-3-3....

[Atwa 78]

Going for a draw then.

[The Chels 2,502]

It has nothing to do with that. Has he played in that position AT ALL this season?!

I don't think so!

Manchester City away. Plus if he's been absolute crap in his normal position, what makes Mourinho think he'll be better out wide where he is normally disastrous anyway?!

[BlueSunshine 672]

Holy crap, this has to be the most unispiring starting eleven i have seen for a really long time.

[LAM09 6,547]

Manchester City away. Plus if he's been absolute crap in his normal position, what makes Mourinho think he'll be better out wide where he is normally disastrous anyway?!

Your answer says enough. Our best away performance this season. I think so.

[Toli 977]

this will be a pain in the ass to watch. Ramires RW, Mikel DM wow. and we are playing away from home, where actually CONCEDING goals is not that bad, if you score...

[TheOnlyOne 6]

That's a Di Matteo team

[zyzz 711]

Bring on the set pieces!

[didierforever 7,349]

I wanted a defensive line up but this is ultra defensive. Hope we can come out with a 0-0.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Really, really pumped for this one. The atmosphere is going to be insane, maybe even more so than against Galatasaray. I was watching the Madrid derby a couple of weeks ago and I was amazed by just how vocal their fans are. In that game, they managed to stifle the likes of Benzema, Ronaldo, Bale, Di Maria and Modric for 75 mins till Atleti players began to tire out. It's just a shame we wouldn't be at our full potential for this game with Hazard doubtful and both Matic and Salah ineligible.

Now to the game. This would be my line-up:

Cech

Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole

Luiz, Lampard

Ramires, Willian, Schurrle

Ba

That's pretty straightforward, but I want Ramires to play on the right wing as a "defensive winger" to deal with the threat of Koke. The kid is one of best young players in Europe and combines physicality with Iniesta-esque playmaking skills. Everyone is talking about Costa and Courtois, but Koke is a seriously talented player. He likes to cut inside a lot to "overload" the midfield area when Tiago and Gabi sit deep. Ramires could play a similar role to what he did at City. If Ramires and Luiz can combine together and cut off Koke's supply lines, then we've successfully nullified half of their attacking power. (Of course they also have the deadly Diego Ribas who they can call from the bench to perform a similar function to Koke)

Willian instead of Oscar as the 10 because of his superior strength. Oscar has been woeful in almost every physical game we've played this season, especially the ones away from home. Willian's pace on the break is vital and his passes are almost as good (if not on par) as Oscar's. I will start Oscar in the 2nd leg though, but let me not get too far ahead of myself.

Ba ahead of Torres because assuming Hazard won't start, I don't have the confidence in Willian, Oscar, Schurrle, Ramires to deal with Atletico's pressing game. Those players have shown many times in the past that they are not comfortable under pressure and as a result, lose possession easily. Hazard is brilliant at holding on to the ball and drawing defenders out of position but with him doubtful, we have no other player that can do those two things well.

We need Ba, because I'm certain we are going to play more direct, route one football. With Hazard out, we don't have enough quality in attack to hurt them a lot, so we might as well bypass their midfield by lumping it to Ba and hoping he can be a good target man, a'la Drogba.

I think we can get a draw if we stick to the game plan of defending deep and playing direct football as Atletico don't really have a lot of pace in their side to trouble our back-line.

[bushman 2,043]

As I said, this morning, Jose is parking the big bad bus.

That lineup says it all.

[haranr 485]

Ramirez you better be good.

[edetarod 2,155]

wow

can't see us scoring with that team

best we can hope for is 0-0

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

A La Di matteo Style

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

Bench?

[LAM09 6,547]

We can't concede that's for sure, or it could be a long night.

[iseah100 5,612]

Formation?

[Barbara 15,149]

shocking lineup, not sure how to feel about it. Initially I don't like it atll