Chelsea were denied a spot in the Champions League final by a brilliant Atl�tico Madrid side who came from behind to set up an all-Madrid finale.
Goals from Adrian, Diego Costa and Arda Turan were enough to cancel out Fernando Torres’ opener and see Chelsea out of the competition at the semi-final stage.
Jose Mourinho surprised many with his starting lineup, with Cesar Azpilicueta playing in midfield and Ashley Cole kept his place for a third successive game at left back.
John Terry and Eden Hazard both passed fitness tests and were deemed fit to start while Samuel Eto’o also returned but was on the Chelsea bench as Fernando Torres started up top.
Ramires and Luiz played in the ‘pivot’ while Eden Hazard and Willian played in midfield alongside Azpilicueta.
Chelsea were without Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel due to suspension, and Petr Cech missed out with a shoulder problem sustained in the first leg.
The game started as many expected it would, with little goalmouth action but both sides having decent spells on the ball, and Chelsea not ‘parking the bus’, much to the disappointment of many other English fans waiting to critisise.
Madrid came close first, when a cross-come-shot proved tricky for Schwarzer to deal with before the stand-in goalkeeper was saved by the crossbar.
Chelsea took the lead through former Atléti striker Fernando Torres, as the Spaniard latched onto Azpilicueta’s cross after good work by Willian.
The striker refused to celebrate against his former club and applauded the away fans, who sung his name, when he was replaced as rumours of a return to his boyhood team gather pace.
At this point, Chelsea were in poll position to progress, but if anything, the goal spurred Atléti on to get the goal they needed to then put themselves in a position to go through.
Indeed, just 8 minutes later, some suspect defending from Chelsea, starting with Hazard losing his marker, meant Adrian had time to hit the ball into the roof of the net as Cole failed to clear.
The goal just before half-time was demoralizing for Chelsea, who’s fans were dreaming of another European final until the avoidable goal out their side back out of control of the tie.
Surprisingly, Atléti were faster out the traps in the second half, despite being the side who had something to defend. Mrk Schwarzer had a few saves to make from set-pieces, while Chelsea also came close when John Terry’s header was well saved by Thibaut Courtois.
Samuel Eto’o replaced Ashley Cole to partner Torres up front but caused more trouble for his own side than he did for Madrid, fouling Diego Costa just insdie the area, giving away a penalty which the Brazilian born striker confidently tucked away.
At this point, with over 30 minutes to go, Chelsea seemed to be in the tie having pulled off these kinds of miracles before, but the killer blow came when, yet again, Hazard lost his man and more suspect defending led to Arda Turan managing to tuck in the rebound of his own header.
At this point, the additions of Demba Ba and Andre Schurrle could have little effect and, ironically, it was Chelsea loanee Thibaut Courtois who played a big part in knocking his parent side out, and Chelsea fans now have a first-hand idea of just how good the Belgian keeper is.
Chelsea failed to defend their lead, unlike the heroic display at Anfield on Sunday, which ultimately led to their downfall.
Many fans took to social media, as we all love to, after the game and many were of the opinion that Eden Hazard played a costly part in the game; lacking concentration in vital areas which eventually saw Chelsea crash out the competition.
It is also clear that Chelsea miss the huge presence of Nemanja Matic in the Champions League as midfielders such as Luiz and Ramires look to get forward, while the Serb is very successful at protecting the defence which comes instinctively to him.
The defeat sees Chelsea crash out a competition which many fans had set their sights of a fairy-tale ending on, but Mourinho was full of praise for his players:
“The players gave everything tonight. I am happy with them. They lost, but they lost against a very good team.”
Mourinho was also very complimentary of the Atlético side who knocked the Blues out, after many had likened the two team in the way that they defend in games:
“They were very solid, very mature and a real team and I congratulate them. I think they are a very adaptive side, to the ideas of Simeone”
With just two games remaining before we wave goodbye to Mourinho’s first season back in charge, a season that looked so promising when Chelsea toped the league looks to be dwindling out with nothing much to play for.
However, Chelsea will look to keep their faint title hoes alive when they host Norwich next Sunday, with the victory at Anfield last weekend opening the gate for Chelsea if any further slip ups are made by either Liverpool or Man City.
Atlético Madrid will take part in the all Madrid final on the 24th of May following their 1-3 victory tonight, which left the aggregate scoreline identical.
Chelsea vs Atlético: Match facts
- Fernando Torres has scored against 3 of the 4 Spanish teams he has faced in the CL (Atlético, Real & Barcelona).
- This is the first season since 2003-04 that no European competition final will contain a club from England.
- Ramires won just 22.2% of his tackles tonight.
- Eden Hazard completed 5 take-ons tonight for Chelsea, more than any other player on the pitch.
- Despite losing, No team reached the semi-finals of the CL more often than Chelsea since 2003/04
- No team has struck the woodwork more times in the Champions League this season than Chelsea (8)
