Atletico Madrid 0-1 Chelsea; Players Rating vs Atletico Madrid

After the frustrating draw against Southampton in the Premier League, Chelsea is back to the winning ways after a well-deserved 1-0 away win against Atletico Madrid in the Last 16 of the Champions League. It’s not a fully convincing performance from the blues as the players again lacking in the cutting edge and being poor in the final third but Chelsea was the better side for the majority of the match. Atletico Madrid sits deep for the majority of the match but they looking dangerous when they counterattack it yet still Chelsea was able to deal with that. In the attacking sense, Chelsea looking dangerous as well but yet again it was the same issue for them as they lack in the cutting edge and final 3rd of pass. Overall it’s a well-deserved victory for Chelsea as they now take control of this last 16 tie with the win and with the away goal advantage. Here is the player rating for the match and Chelsea line up at their usual 3 at the system under Thomas Tuchel.

 

Note;(GK-Goal Keeper, CB- Centre Back, LWB- Left Wing Back, RWB-Right Wing Back, CM- Centre Midfield, LF-Left Forward, RF-Right Forward ST-Striker, )

 

GK- Edouard Mendy – Nervy start the match after his poor first touch which was won by the Atletico Madrid player inside the 6-yard box but somehow Chelsea able to escape from that. His distribution not at his usual level and he had some poor clearances. But his handling for the corners was good and didn’t have any saves throughout the match. Rating- 5/10

CB- Azpilicueta –Had some poor moments in the match but dealt well with Thomas Lemar for the Majority of the match. Goes forward sometimes but his crossing not his usual best as well. Rating 6/10  

CB- Andreas Christensen – is Chelsea missing Thiago Silva? I don’t think so. The best defender on the pitch for Chelsea. Kept Luis Suarez and Joao Felix quiet for the whole match. He is the main reason why Chelsea didn’t face any shoot on target for this match with some crucial blocks and interception. Another player who has been rejuvenated under Thomas Tuchel. Rating 8/10

CB- Ruediger- Had one mix-up moment with Alonso to let Suarez take advantage of that and could have been easily let to goal for them. Apart from that, he has done a decent enough job at the back for Chelsea.  Rating 6.5/10

RWB- Hudson Odoi- Back in the team after the weekend’s humiliation as Tuchel took him off from the pitch after he came on as a substitute at halftime against Southampton. Tuchel criticized him for his lack of efforts on the weekend but for today’s match he worked hard for the team and defend it well against Thomas Lemar. Had some sloppy moments as well while defending but overall he did well today and link up well with Mount in the attacking sense as well.  Rating 7/10

 LWB- Marcos Alonso – Criticised heavily after the match against Southampton and nearly could have been so for this match. After the confusion between him and Ruediger that nearly lead to the goal but somehow Chelsea managed to get away from that. Apart from that incident Alonso defends it well throughout the match and also caused some problems whole he goes forward as well. Rating 6.5/10

 CM- Jorginho- Controlled the midfield and composed with the ball for the Majority of the match. But he has so many misplaced passes in the first half while Chelsea was in good positions to attack Atletico Madrid. He has good ideas and visions but he couldn’t execute well the ideas and vision that he got. Improved a lot in the 2nd half and so his passing ability was better in the 2nd half as well. Booked for the Professional foul and will miss the 2nd leg of this tie Rating 6.5/10

CM- Mateo Kovacic- After his world-class display against Newcastle in the previous week, he had a below-bar game against Southampton on the weekend but he produced a much-improved display tonight for Chelsea. Controlled the midfield alongside Jorginho made some driving forward runs but his poor decision-making let him down on certain occasions and lost the ball couple of times in midfield. Overall it was a decent display from him but he is much better than this. Rating-6.5/10 

RF- Mason Mount- Booked undeservedly inside a minute of the match and will miss the 2nd leg of the match. Chelsea will miss him for 2nd leg and he showed today why Chelsea will miss him for 2nd leg. Created a lot of good chances for the team and link up well with Hudson odoi on the right side of the attacking half. Exceptional work rate tirelessly pressed the opponents and try to win the ball back as quick as he can. People might think I’m overhyping him but I didn’t do that. What he is doing for the team should be appreciated and that’s what I’m doing. Another man of the match display from him again. Rating 8.5/10 Man of the Match

LF- Timo Werner- looking lively and dangerous with the ball. Nearly scored from Mount's superb cross but it went just wide of the post. Tested Jan Oblak forces him to make a couple of good saves. His end products could have been much better as he gets into some good positions but his end product was not good enough. An overall decent performance from him and day by day he is improving a lot. Rating 7/10 

ST- Olivier Giroud- he only had one clear-cut chance and he covert it to goal with a superb Overhead kick. What a goal it was from the 34-year-old French international. His hold-up play was also good and he aerial advantage well for this match. He will get the same rating as Mount but Mason Mount just edges him out for the Man of Match.  Rating 8.5/10 

 

Substitution

Ngolo Kante for Mateo Kovacic - came on for the last 20 minutes to add some freshness. Made some good interceptions but also loses the ball couple of times in the midfield - Rating 5/10

Hakim Ziyech for Mason Mount–Came on for the last 20 minutes as well and put in some good crosses from corners. Also created one good chance for Werner with a nice through ball - Rating 6/10

Reece James for Hudson Odoi- Came on for the last 15 minutes and put in some good defensive duties. Rating 6/10

Kai Havertz for Olivier Giroud- Came on for the last 10 minutes and good to see Havertz back in the team after a recent absence because of injuries. Fouled some of Atletico Madrid’s players in their half to run sometime. Rating 5/10

Christian Pulisic for Timo Werner – came on for the last 10 minutes for some fresh legs in the team. Rating 5/10

 

Manager

 

Thomas Tuchel- 1st champions league match for him as a Chelsea manager for him and he ends up on the winning side. Again his tactics were spot on as the players continuously pressed Atletico Madrid to win the ball back. Dominate through the whole match and Chelsea didn’t let Atletico Madrid has single shot on target. There’s still room for improvement as the team now has to start creating more chances and scoring more goals to kill off the game. And also the same statement for the players as they should start taking the responsibility now has to take good decision makings on the field. Thomas Tuchel is doing his job well so far and so the players have improved under him but still needs a bit more from the players. Rating 8/10