Chelsea host Atletico tonight in another monumental night at the Bridge. If this game is half as entertaining as the first leg expect to hear the sound of millions of men snoring in armchairs across the country. We should at least be thankful that Tiago decided not to model Gerrard’s banana boots in the first leg else this tie might already be over. Mourinho’s ultra defensive tactics proved effective, similar to the strategy of avoiding STDs by living a completely celibate lifestyle. Abramovich has spent billions to bring top talent to Chelsea, yet could have produced similar results simply by filling the Chelsea goalline with cash that has slipped down the back of his sofa.
Chelsea’s negative anti-football tactics have been necessitated by the lack of a genuine goalscorer at the club, Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o proving to be inadequate so far this season. If only they had talents like Daniel Sturridge and Romalu Lukaku available to them, now where does one pick up strikers like that from one wonders? Nevertheless the Blues have been leading at half-time in each of their last five home fixtures (2 Champions League and 3 Premier League games). Madrid have scored almost 60% of their La Liga goals in the second half of games, and we would fancy them to break Chelsea down eventually over the course of a two-legged tie.
So who is this hero of the hour for Madrid? Who will score them this unstoppable goal that breaks Chelsea hearts? The prime candidate is one Diego da Silva Costa, who has 55 goals in the past two seasons, including seven in his first ever Champions League campaign. He may look like an unemployed bus driver but don’t let that fool you. Afterall he is a Brazilian born and raised in Brazil to Brazilian parents who was capped at senior level for the Brazil national team, but in fact he is Spanish now, just like how a Brazil nut dropped into a bottle of sangria becomes a Spanish nut. Be that as it may Chelsea are missing John Terry, John Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic and Costa should find a way to show his quality when it really matters.
José Arrogantio is a sore loser and his teams follow his lead, going down in a blaze of sour grapes when they come up short. We can see another famous exit this year, and there isn’t a referee in the world who wouldn’t relish the chance to brandish the red card to a Chelsea player if the opportunity arose in such a crucial game.
