Match date: 30 April 2014

A 0-0 draw at the Vicente Calderon meant that there was more pressure on both sides to be proactive at Stamford Bridge.

Jose Mourinho altered his side, with players returning from injury and others suspended. Hazard and Ivanovic were back in the side, with Azpilicueta moved to one of the three players playing behind Fernando Torres.

Diego Simeone made a surprising change to his starting XI, leaving Raul Garcia, Diego, and David Villa on the bench in favour of Adrian to partner Diego Costa, while Arda Turan also returned to the side.

Chelsea Positive, Opens Game

In the first leg, it was clear to anyone watching that Mourinho set his side out with a first goal of not conceding, and so Chelsea sat back, very deep at times, to eliminate the ability of Atletico Madrid to counter-attack. Atletico weren’t used to having to break down sides playing in a tight, compact, low block. Both Chelsea and Atletico Madrid prefer to play against expansive teams where they can dictate the spaces that their opposition play in and can counter quickly once they win the ball back.

So in the first game, Chelsea were able to eliminate Atletico’s chances to counter, while not having the opportunities to really do it themselves. In this leg, however, Chelsea were forced to play out of their low block more often, as they needed a goal, having been unable to get an away goal. Chelsea’s more positive approach allowed for a much more open and entertaining game than the first leg. Both teams looked to play to their respective striker quickly and directly. Both strikers have a history of and are good at working across the front line. Torres has always enjoyed drifting into the wide left channel to pick up the ball, which led to a number of memorable goals for Liverpool, while Costa looks to drift to the side where Atletico can create an overload situation.

Atletico’s approach to the match altered significantly compared to the last leg of the tie. WIth Chelsea playing a bit more open, rather than setting up with a compact back four with three holding midfielders sitting directly in front as they did in the previous leg, Atletico were able to play in front of Chelsea’s penalty area a bit more often. The Spanish side attempted significantly less crosses for the reason stated above and without Raul Garcia, they lacked a player that was their target in the Chelsea penalty area. The crosses in the first leg also came from slightly deeper areas because of Chelsea’s deep defensive line, whereas the second leg saw crosses from positions closer to the by-line, which is where both Adrian and Turan’s goals came from. Below, you can see Atletico’s crosses from this match (on the left) compared to those in the first leg (on the right).

As mentioned above, crosses (poor ones) resulted in Atletico’s first and last goals. It wasn’t necessarily Chelsea’s open, more positive play that lost them the game, but rather individual errors. Eden Hazard is certainly guilty of not tracking his runner on both, as Juanfran got both crosses in. The first was tame and should have been dealt with by a Chelsea defender before the ball got through to Adrian, the last could have been dealt with as well as it came off the post, but Turan was quickest to react and perhaps a little lucky as his momentum carried him through the path of the rebounded ball.

The positive approach of both sides saw them both press to varying degrees throughout the match. Atletico were content in defending in their 4-4-2 shape in a mid-block, as Chelsea had more possession of the ball that resulted in the game’s opening goal. Following that goal, however, Atletico were much more aggressive in their pressing.

Eden Hazard, Chelsea Wide Play

Eden Hazard was unavailable through injury in the first leg of the tie, but came back for this match and had a significant impact. Unfortunately, what he will be remembered for is that fact that he let Juanfran get in behind him for Atletico’s first goal and then again for the third goal. He did have a good game going forward; taking on Atletico players and won a good number of free kicks for Chelsea as Atletico looked to press and win the ball back as quickly as they could.

David Luiz was instrumental in switching the play for Chelsea, he would drop between the centre backs and act as the pivot as the play progress into the middle and final thirds of the pitch, but for all of Chelsea’s play in the wide areas, little came of it. The Chelsea goal came about because of a pull back by Azpilicueta to Torres, but it was one of the only times that Torres managed to find any room in the Atletico penalty area.

Changes

Mourinho made his first change earlier than many seemed to expect him to, bringing on Samuel Eto’o for Ashley Cole in the 54th minute. Rather than sacrifice a defensive player, Azpilicueta moved to left back, where he has played much of the season, and Chelsea’s shape became a 4-4-2, with Hazard on the left, Willian on the right, and Torres and Eto’o up top. Torres played very much off the left, with Eto’o dropping a little deeper. However, this allowed Atletico to take more control of the game as Turan and, more so, Koke moved narrower to create an overload in midfield. In the end, Eto’o’s telling contribution was conceding a penalty that Diego Costa (eventually) converted to give Atletico a 2-1 lead on the night and in the tie, just about ending proceedings.

Ba and Schurrle were later brought on, but at this point, as Mourinho addressed in his post-match interview, the game was over.

Conclusion

Interestingly, for all that was made about both sides being counter-attacking sides, most of the goals were scored by the team that had sustained pressure. Even after the score was 1-1, Atletico continued to possess the ball, whereas it would have been a perfect opportunity to play in their usual style of inviting pressure before countering quickly.

Hazard and Mourinho were critical of one another after the match. Hazard seemed to criticise Chelsea’s style of play under Mourinho, while Mourinho criticised the Belgian for neglecting his defensive duties on the night, which led to two Atletico goals.

With Atletico winning, it sets up the first same city European Cup final, with the top Madrid sides meeting in Lisbon. Atletico won and drew against Real in the league, only to lose twice against their rivals in the Copa del Rey, so football fans are certainly in for a memorable night in May.