Chelsea have beaten Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the away leg of their Champions League tie, and one can only feel positive about qualification now.
If the Spanish team play as badly in the return leg it should be easy for the Blues to qualify for the next round, but even if they play better the 1-0 lead Thomas Tuchel’s team have will serve them well.
One cause for concern is the absence of Jorginho and Mason Mount after both picked up suspensions for yellow cards in Bucharest. Tuchel has selected both whenever available.
There is talent to replace them, but Mount in particular has been outstanding and will be a big miss no matter who comes in. Jorginho can be replaced by N’Golo Kante, a move that many Chelsea fans would have made regardless of any ban.
Kai Havertz will be favourite to replace Mount behind the strikers – if he’s overlooked we will really start to understand Tuchel’s priorities.
