Chelsea looking to ‘park the bus’ against Atletico

Blues are confident of victory in second leg of Champions League last-four.

Atletico Madrid will be looking to counter a disciplined Chelsea as they travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday in their second leg semi-final clash in the Champions League.

The first encounter, which ended in a draw, was dubbed as perhaps the most dreary last-four match in the history of Champions League football. Chelsea proved once again how they maintained a methodical defence as they ‘parked the bus’ in front of their goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who had replaced injured Petr Cech.

Jose Mourinho’s side used the same tactics with a ‘weaker’ squad on Sunday, against English Premier League leaders Liverpool, this time scoring two goals in the process and giving the Blues a boost in confidence before their all-important match against Atletico.

“We have put up a relatively weaker side as we are focusing more on the Champions League,” said Mourinho on Sunday before the kick-off.

“There are just two games remaining in that competition and that is our primary target.”

The Blues’ hopes for a Premier League title depends on rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, but that is not the case with Atletico Madrid, who are leading second-place Barcelona by four points in the La Liga. They are yet to be beaten in Europe and the hopes of a double for Diego Simeone’s side looks more realistic than those of Chelsea.

But their league position has no relevance in Europe, according to manager Simeone, who believes it will be a completely different ballgame.

“The league has nothing to do with the Champions League,” said the Argentine, who is bidding to become the first coach to lead Atletico to a European Cup final since 1974,according to AFP.

“We know we are facing a very strong team that will give us a lot of problems.”

Simeone’s concerns are reasonable as Chelsea look like an impenetrable unit at the moment. The nine-man defence, which can technically be countered by aerial attacks, is exceptionally strong for The Blues, who are a cohesive unit. Add that to the extremely deceptive counter-attacking pace of Ramires, Willian, Fernando Torres, Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle, and what you have is a strong squad on the field, especially in their home ground.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2014.

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