Chelsea face Atletico Madrid in Bucharest in just under an hour, and the teams are in!
Let’s start at the back – we knew Thiago Silva was out, so it’s the Azpi, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger trio we expected in those positions.
Callum Hudson-Odoi recovers from his double sub humiliation at the weekend to play at right wing back, with Marcos Alons on the left.
Amazingly N’Golo Kante is left out, with a “Jovacic” midfield taking centre-stage.
The front three has Olivier Giroud leading the line, with Timo Werner and Mason Mount scurrying in the spaces behind him.
In a way, it’s a team full of the decisions we’ve come to expect from Thomas Tuchel – no Reece James, no Kante, and so on. It’s perhaps not what we would go for, but we’ve got to trust the new man to do what he thinks is right.
Here are the full team line-ups for Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea (kick off at 20:00 pm GMT)
CHELSEA:
Here's your Chelsea starting 11 for #ATMCHE! 👊🔵 pic.twitter.com/T5FqtEkdiX
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 23, 2021
