Chelsea lose key players but secure draw

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Atletico Madrid 0 Chelsea 0

Chelsea stood firm despite losing Petr Cech and John Terry to injury during the Champions League semi-final first leg in Madrid.

Already without the sidelined Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto’o as well as the suspended Branislav Ivanovic, they lost their keeper after 17 minutes.

Cech left the pitch after colliding with Raul Garcia, who was shoved towards him by Chelsea’s David Luiz.

Luiz was inadvertently involved in the injury to Terry as well.

The skipper limped off in the 73rd minute having appeared to twist his ankle after accidentally stepping on his team-mate’s foot as Chelsea were defending a set piece.

Nevertheless, Jose Mourinho’s side defended resolutely, looking fairly comfortable in the process, and can feel optimistic about their chances of reaching the final.

Their midfield options will be limited for the second leg at Stamford Bridge, though, as bookings for Frank Lampard and John Mikel Obi mean they will both be suspended.

Cech’s mishap meant another appearance for Mark Schwarzer following the 41-year-old’s unconvincing display in Saturday’s shock home defeat against Sunderland, which Cech missed because of illness.

Schwarzer was well protected by his back four but when called into action he dived to tip away a 25-yard drive from Mario Suarez and later kept out Gabi’s free-kick.

Garcia missed his team’s best chance of the night when he headed over from Juanfran’s right-wing cross, and Diego Costa’s late header was easily gathered by Schwarzer.

At the other end, Ramires shot wastefully wide in the first half after great work by Willian gave the visitors the chance to launch a counter-attack.

And Fernando Torres, playing against his former club, later sent a long-range effort into the arms of Atletico’s on-loan Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois.

Chelsea: Cech (Schwarzer 17); Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry (73), Cole; Luiz, Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Willian (Ba 90), Torres.
Subs not used: Kalas, Ake, Van Ginkel, Oscar.

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