Thomas Tuchel has seen his unbeaten run as Chelsea manager extended to an extremely impressive 12 games.
And one more game without defeat will see his side progress to the quarter-final stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2004.
That season, the Londoners reached the semi-finals only to be beaten by their current opponents who, after a 0-0 draw in Madrid, travelled to Stamford Bridge and defeated J*se M*urinho’s team 3-1, the then Spaniard’s former player Fernando Torres scoring the Blues’ consolation.
Following the first leg of this season’s tie, Chelsea have given themselves a massive boost and a great chance of progressing to the quarter-final stage of the Champions League after a well-earned victory in Bucharest thanks to the only goal of the game scored against Atlético Madrid in stunning fashion by Olivier Giroud.
This will be the eighth Champions League meeting between the two sides, the last at Stamford Bridge being a group stage match in 2017 when an own-goal courtesy of the Spaniards helped Chelsea to a 1-1 draw.
Although Tuchel is quite rightly being lauded for the way he’s tightened up Chelsea’s defence, it is the paucity of goals that is leading to questions being asked about the German’s tactics.
However, with summer signing Kai Havertz having declared himself free of the effects of the COVID-19 infection he recently suffered, it must be hoped that he can inject some fresh impetus into the front two, three or whoever is picked to lead the line.
Whilst in recent weeks I have persisted in backing Timo Werner to break his barren spell and I will continue to do so in this match against Atlético.
But I will also put some money on the above-mentioned Havertz with both players scoring in the game being a 20.00 double with our friends at FansBet.
About the Author
Londoner David Johnstone is a home, away and European away Chelsea supporter and has missed just six matches since 2001 (although he’s quick to state there are plenty of other supporters with better attendance records than him).
He has been involved with the fanzine scene at Chelsea since around 1991 and started the ‘cfcuk’ fanzine in 1999 which was, until Mr Abramovich bought the club in 2003, named ‘Matthew Harding’s Blue And White Army’.
David was also responsible for forming both the Chelsea Supporters’ Group and the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust which are the main two bodies that represent the followers of Chelsea FC and take their concerns to those running the club.
A founder of the highly regarded Chelsea FanCast weekly podcast (but is no longer involved) and responsible for the crowd surfing banners and supporter displays that are seen in the Matthew Harding Stand at Stamford Bridge on matchday.
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