Match Report: Dominant Atlético Setup Champions League Derby Meet

As soon as it emerged Fernando Torres was going to start against former club Atlético Madrid at Stamford Bridge, the spaniard was destined to net against Los Rojiblancos. Torres failed to find a way past Thibaut Courtois upon his return to the Vicente Calderón last week, but was on hand to break the deadlock from close range.

However, the joy of the hosts was short lived when Adrián capitalised on some lacklustre Blues defending to draw the visiting side level just a minute before the interval. José Mourinho introduced Samuel Eto'o 10 minutes into the second half, but the Cameroonian's first contribution was to bring down Diego Costa in the penalty area, which the Spaniard duly converted. Atleti's place in the Champions League final was sealed with 20 minutes remaining as Arda Turan made it 3-1 to the Spanish side.

With a trip to Lisboa at stake, Chelsea and Atlético were expected to keep things tight in the opening 45. Yet, 9 shots between them prior to the break painted a different picture as both teams went on the offensive, regardless of the Blues' perceived defensive lineup which saw Azpilicueta deployed on the right of the attacking midfield three behind Torres, presumably to contain the threat of Filipe Luis. This didn't deter Atlético from attacking down the left however with 49% of their offensive moves coming down that side of the pitch as they put the Blues defence to the sword in the 3-1 win.

Despite home advantage, Chelsea were unable to setup a final meeting with Real Madrid, with Atlético deserving winners on the evening. While Chelsea had more shots (16) than Atlético (13), the visiting side had more efforts on target (8) than their English counterparts (5), with the away team not only able to test tMark Schwarzer more frequently, but highlighting how clinical they were in front of goal.

Perhaps surprisingly, it was Atlético (52%) who also enjoyed more possession than the Blues (48%). The first leg saw the Spanish capital outfit have more of the ball as Chelsea sat back to come away with the clean sheet. And while the second leg was a much tighter affair, judging from the time spent on the ball of either side, the visitors were in control for large spells of the 90 minutes, this coming despite Gabi's being suspension.

This figure was higher than their season average in Europe's elite competition (46.1%) and Mourinho's side were duly punished for their inability to control proceedings at Stamford Bridge. "Atlético were very mature [and] very intelligent in the way they controlled the game," the Portuguese admitted after the game and the stats echo his sentiments. 

Mourinho pointed to Courtois' save early in the second half as the moment that swung the game in the favour of the visitors. The Belgian, on loan from Chelsea, did well to get down low to deny a John Terry header 7 minutes before the game-changing penalty. While Courtois was unable to keep his 6th clean sheet of the Champions League season, the 21-year-old impressed in the Atlético goal, as his WhoScored rating (7.6) indicates, a figure that only Miranda (7.7) bettered of every Los Rojiblancos player.

Simeone said that going 2-1 up settled the game, with his team playing with confidence having moved into the lead on the hour mark and it was little shock to see them add a third late on. The Argentine added that he's only thinking to Saturday's Liga meeting with Levante, but Cholo must have one eye on the Champions League as he aims to replicate the feat of Ajax in 1995 in going an entire Champions League campaign unbeaten.

"I want to congratulate the mothers of these players as they gave them big 'cojones' to play the way they did today," Simeone concluded with and star Atlético performers deserve all of the credit for securing an commendable 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge.

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