18′ Joao Felix wriggles through the middle and is about to test Mendy when Kante sticks a foot in to divert the ball to his goalkeeper. That’s a good intervention by the Frenchman.
17′ Atletico look to be playing more of a 4-2-3-1 with Joao Felix dropping deep and Suarez roaming alone up front. They’ve seen precious little of the ball so far.
16′ Ziyech swings in the corner from the left. Atletico give it short shrift.
15′ Suarez tries and fails to beat Zouma with a nutmeg. Azpilicueta sends a ball into Atletico’s box and the visitors don’t fully clear. Llorente ends up conceding a corner.
14′ We’re less than 15 minutes in and Chelsea have had 76 per cent possession. You suspect that will be the pattern for most of this game.
13′ Gimenez heads out James’ cross from deep. Chelsea keep the ball on the opposite side, sending Ziyech into the penalty area but Savic is in the right place to clear it away.
12′ Chelsea are starting to find their rhythm after Atletico’s promising start. Lodi intercepts James’ run and knocks the ball out for a throw-in.
10′ Alonso is set free down the left to burst into the box. Werner is in a great position waiting for the cross but the Spaniard elects to go for goal, rolling wide of the left-hand post.
8′ Atletico are definitely a more open side than they used to be. Kante surges into space in front of Atletico’s back four and looks to dink a pass to a teammate but can only put the ball out for an Atletico goal-kick.
7′ Ziyech asks a lot of James bombing down the right. James is unable to prevent Lodi from nipping in and winning a free-kick just outside the box.
5′ Chelsea win the first corner of the game down their right. James will take it. The wing-back floats it to no one in Chelsea blue and Atletico get rid of it.
3′ Atletico come on the attack again as Suarez is caught offside. Seconds later Carrasco dinks the ball inside to Lodi who forces a routine save from Mendy.
2′ Atletico look up for this early on as Trippier gets forward from right-back and flings the ball into the Chelsea box. Llorente has a speculative shot blocked and Carrasco’s follow-up cross is cleared. Werner is unable to keep the ball in play up the other end.
1′ The Italian referee Daniele Orsato blows his whistle and Atletico get this second leg underway!
The two sides are out on the Stamford Bridge pitch as the Champions League anthem rings out. It never fails to get you excited.
Chelsea have won just one of their three Champions League home matches against Atletico, a 4-0 win in the 2009-10 group stages prior to Simeone’s arrival. The one defeat they’ve had in those games was in the second leg of the 2013-14 semi-final which saw Atletico progress 3-1 on aggregate. Can Atletico summon the spirit of their last LaLiga-winning side here?
Chelsea make five changes from their 0-0 draw away to Leeds United last time out, reverting to a three-man defence. Jorginho and Mason Mount are suspended. There are two changes to Atletico from their own 0-0 draw with Getafe. Lodi and Joao Felix start ahead of Hermoso and Correa.
SUBS: Sime Vrsaljko, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Miguel San Roman, Thomas Lemar, Ivo Grbic, Lucas Torreira, Angel Correa, Vitolo, Mario Hermoso, Moussa Dembele, Felipe, Hector Herrera.
ATLETICO MADRID (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Kieran Trippier, Stefan Savic, Jose Gimenez, Renan Lodi; Marcos Llorente, Koke (c), Saul Niguez, Yannick Carrasco; Joao Felix, Luis Suarez,
SUBS: Emerson, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Willy Caballero, Billy Gilmour, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Pulisic, Ben Chilwell, Faustino Anjorin, Olivier Giroud.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta (c), Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger; Reece James, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz.
However, if there’s any side that can dig themselves out of a hole it’s Diego Simeone’s Atletico. The LaLiga leaders have been flagging recently but they have progressed from 50 per cent of the European Cup and Champions League knockout ties in which they’ve lost the first leg. Who will progress then? We might as well flip a coin, or even better, sit back and find out!
Chelsea’s 1-0 win at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium three weeks ago has put them in pole position to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals. In their entire history of European competition they’ve never been eliminated in a two-leg knockout tie after winning the first leg away from home. Thomas Tuchel’s team look in no mood to change that record now.
Hello! Welcome to our live text commentary of this UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge.
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