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MOTD- Chelsea 1-3 Atletico Madrid (agg 1-3)

By on April 30, 2014

In 2004, a young 41-year-old managerial upstart Jose Mourinho lead Porto to perhaps the most unexpected Champions League title victory of all time. Now, ten years on, the new manager on the block Diego Simeone has taken his Atletico Madrid side, which had never previously even reached the quarterfinal stage of the competition, all the way to the Champions League final with a win over Mourinho’s Chelsea team. And while Mourinho is hardly elderly as top-level football managers go, could we already be witnessing a passing of the guard for the young, slightly overly exuberant manager for the next decade? Certainly, tonight it was Simeone doing the running down the touchline screaming in euphoria – Mourinho’s trademark celebration.

Simeone might not have the flare of the outspoken “Special One” nor the tactical knowledge of Mourinho, but his Atletico men certainly outfoxed Mourinho’s Chelsea side in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal tie. At the start of the match the Spanish club sat back and soaked up the pressure Chelsea applied in the opening minutes  – leaving Mourinho’s men forced into attempting possession play that they more often cede to their opponents in major matches.  And, as The Blues struggled to poke holes through the Atletico defense, the visitors nearly found a fluke early opener when Koke’s mishit volleyed cross from the left caught Mark Schwarzer out and bounced away off the underside of the crossbar, out off of the leg of the Chelsea defender.

Chelsea eventually accustomed themselves into seeing more of the ball, and nearly scored themselves fifteen minutes in when Willian curled a dangerous free-kick on the edge of the area inches over the crossbar.  David Luiz then came close to finding a spectacular opener with a bicycle-kick near the penalty spot which flew inches wide of the post, but the home side finally took the lead thirty-six minutes in, through none other than Fernando Torres, scoring against his old club.  Willian did brilliantly down the right to ward off two Atletico defenders, before poking the ball through to César Azpilicueta, who cut the ball into the six yard box.  Although Torres scuffed his low first-time effort from the cross, the ball bobbled over the far post at the bottom left-hand corner of the net.  Chelsea were up 1-0 in the match and 1-0 on aggregate.

Mourinho seemed to be taking that lead into the half, only for his side to lose concentration and concede right before the end of the half.  Tiago chipped a diagonal ball from the left over the Chelsea defense to Juanfran, who laid the ball back across goal to Adrián.  The forward guided the ball into the top left corner, giving Atletico the advantage on aggregate with an away goal.  The match was nowhere near over, with an entire half left to play, but Atletico came out for the second period looking intent on putting the tie to bed quickly.  Arda Turan first came close moments into the half, only to see Schwarzer palm his volley at the far post via Juanfran’s cross over.

Yet Chelsea nearly scored again themselves, with John Terry’s bullet header in the fifty-third minute only being denied by a brilliant Thibaut Courtois save.  But in a rather un-Mourinho like move, the manager brought on Samuel Eto’o to go for the win quite early on in the second half, just fifty-four minutes in.  While Eto’o was brought on to give Chelsea the lead, he all but gifted Atletico with a vital goal when he brought down Costa, who had his back turned to goal, with a late challenge inside his own penalty area.  It was a stonewall penalty and although Costa seemed like he might have been fazed by taking a minute-or-so just to get the ball positioned on the penalty spot to his liking, the Spanish international slammed an unstoppable spot-kick into the roof of the net.

Chelsea came tantalizingly close to equalizing in the sixty-fourth minute when Willian’s free-kick was flicked onto the inside of the left-hand post and out via a Courtois palm, but Atletico sealed the win twenty minutes from time with a third goal.  In an almost identical move as their first goal, Juanfran was slipped in down the right, and the Spanish right-back chipped a cross into the box.  Turan headed it against the crossbar at the far post, and while Mourinho’s men looked to have escaped he latched onto the rebound, dispatching it into the back of the net.  The goal, which won Atletico match and the tie, sends Simeone into the first all-Madrid Champions League final ever against cross-town rivals Real. Mourinho was left to mourn his loss and turn his attention back to the league.
Man of the Match: Juanfran

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.