Chelsea are just 180 minutes away from their 3rd Champions League final, as is manager Jose Mourinho. Standing between the 2012 winners and a trip to Lisbon are La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
The Spaniards knocked Barcelona out in the last round, a result which has been called an upset but really isn’t. Atletico are a very good side, who will pose Chelsea a major threat over the two legs. Many pundits have put Chelsea as comfortable favourites, but the Blues have got a massive job to do at the Vincente Calderon on Tuesday night. So, ahead of this crucial game, here is a look back at the three previous meeting between these two sides.
Chelsea 4-0 Atletico – Wednesday, October 21, 2009.
The first ever competitive meeting between these two went rather well for Chelsea, who ran out 4-0 winners and topped their Champions League group, finishing 11 points ahead of third placed Atletico.
Soloman Kalou opened the scoring late in the first half here, and then he doubled the lead seven minutes in to the second half. Frank Lampard put Carlo Ancelotti’s side 3-0 up before a Luis Perea own goal completed the rout. A repeat of this in the next meeting at Stamford Bridge is very unlikely.
Atletico 2-2 Chelsea – Tuesday, November 3, 2009.
The return fixture also had four goals, but they were shared as Atletico picked up one of the three points they managed in that season’s competition. The game was deadlocked after an hour, until a certain Sergio Aguero gave the hosts the lead.
This was back in the days when Chelsea had a world class striker, and it was Didier Drogba who got them back in the game. He equalised with eight minutes left, before putting Chelsea ahead on 88 minutes. Aguero scored a late equaliser for the hosts, and the points were shared.
This was the last time these two sides met in the Champions League, and fans of omens will enjoy what happened later that season. Chelsea won the Premier League on the final day of the season, while Jose Mourinho won the Champions League, beating Bayern Munich in the final. How Chelsea fans would love a repeat of that.
Chelsea 1-4 Atletico – Friday, August 31, 2012.
The last meeting between these two came on the back of Chelsea’s 2012 Champions League win. Atletico had won the Europa League the season before, and they faced the Blues in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco.
Chelsea were expected to win in their first Super Cup appearance, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Atletico’s Falcao, now plying his trade at Monaco, scored a brilliant hat-trick to win the game for the Spaniards.
Things didn’t start well for Chelsea when Falcao put his side ahead after just six minutes. The Colombian added a second with barely 20 minutes gone, and then completed his hat-trick just before half time.
Miranda popped up with a 4th for Atletico, ensuring this was a game to forget for the Pensioners. Gary Cahill pulled a goal back for Chelsea, but they were never really in this game. Most of Chelsea’s current squad were around back then, so you really have to hope that doesn’t play on their minds going in to this game. Falcao may have gone, but Atletico have another dangerous threat up front in the form of Diego Costa.