Champions League semi-finals: Chelsea to face Atletico


Chelsea to play head to head with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of Champions League 2013-14.

The Blues have avoided Current champions Bayern Munich and La Liga title challengers Real Madrid, who will travel to the Bernabeu for the first leg later this month.

The Premier League outfit reached the final four of the Champions League tournament after a 4-3 aggregate win over Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Spanish club Atletico Madrid will host the Londoners in the first leg of their semi-final at the Vicente Calderon Stadium, following a shock 2-1 aggregate win over Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

Both the clubs were played against each other back in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup, when Chelsea suffers a 4-1 defeat to Atletico in Monaco.

Former Chelsea coach Ray Wilkins believes the Londoners could make through to the CL final in Lisbon.

I give them a massive chance because they look to be the only team left in the competition that can keep a clean sheet.“, Wilkins told Sky Sports.

“I watched the Barcelona-Atletico game and there were chances galore. It was very similar in the other match as well so Chelsea with their defensive set-up have as good a chance as anybody.

“They have a defensive quality that is exceptional. Okay, the strikers haven’t functioned as Jose would have liked them to, but in the midfield section they have so much creativity and goals.”

The Belgian stopper Thibaut Courtois, who is serving his loan spell at Atletico from Chelsea and according to reports from Yahoo Eurosport UK – Atletico will have to pay £4.95m to Chelsea in order to play Courtois against his parent club.

The first legs of semi-final to be played on April 22/23, while the second legs will be on April 29/30.


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