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Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea: Your Running Commentary

Frank Lampard Chelsea (Google)

By FRANCO PANIZO

The UEFA Champions League semifinals are about to get underway.

Atletico Madrid and Chelsea will square off in the first leg of their semifinals series at Vicente Calderon Stadium on Tuesday (2:45pm ET, Fox Deportes/Fox Soccer 2Go), and both sides will be looking to set the tone in what is sure to be a tight pair of matches between two physical and defensively-stout clubs.

The battle of managers is also an intriguing one. Diego Simeone has done a bang-up job leading Atletico Madrid to an undefeated record in this Champions League competition, but his side will go up against the very experienced Jose Mourinho and a Blues side that has plenty of experience going through this part of the competition in recent years.

If you will be watching today’s match, please feel free to leave your thoughts, some play-by-play and analysis in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. please i want the half time time songs pleaaaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeeee send it if you have it to my account on facebook or yahoo pleaaaaaaaaaase

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  2. I am no Chelsea fan but I do admire Mourinho’s track record and I think he’s pretty funny so I guess I am a Mourinho fan but the moral outrage here is simply priceless. Everyone knew what his tactics were going to be. Mourinho isn’t obligated to entertain you, his job is to win games and trophies and he thinks this is the best way to do it.

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    • It’s not moral outrage. It’s just… like boring. There is not moral aspect to it. I just want to be entertained.

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    • He get’s paid to coach a team that plays a game for our entertainment. If not then send him to war or kill him in the town square for our enjoyment. That’s how we’ve done it for centuries why stop now?

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      • This is getting out of hand. People take the “beautiful game” sentiment too far. Soccer is a sport with loads of corruption, violence, racism, and greed. Yet fans treat it with this holy attitude about playing the game the right way and for beauty. It’s all way too idealistic.

      • I hear on that. I think fans of Chelsea might have a right to be outraged/embarrassed/annoyed because they don’t want to have a claim to the team that won, “the ugly way”, but I think this idea that every coach or player has some sort of obligation to play one way or another gets a bit annoying itself, especially considering how many teams try to be “brave” and end up getting blown out, and then coaches get torn to shreds or fired for it. I’d love to see “better” soccer, but winning is, in the end, what keeps you around.

        Although some could die happily with the admiration of their fans.

    • You’re insistent need to call it moral outrage it was I find funny.

      Heaven forbid some people just tuning in for the love of soccer weren’t pleased when all they saw was a club with a massive payroll play defense and make no attempt to play soccer.

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      • i was the other one calling it ‘moral outrage’, which was a tongue-in-cheek way of poking fun at these pearl-clutchers talking about the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways of playing soccer–some even going as far as saying that, if someone doesn’t play according to certain commenters’ tastes, well then that’s not even soccer at all!

      • also, i really don’t see what ‘massive payroll’ has to do with anything. chelsea’s payroll, massive or not, has given them, right now:

        – a 50m striker who can’t score
        – a starting 11 that was, by the 20th minute, bereft of 5 normal starters due to injury or suspension
        – a team that just lost to f–king sunderland
        – a matchup with maybe the hottest team in football right now

        so if i was a neutral, i sure wouldn’t enjoy it, but if i was the manager? this is one occasion where i would have absolutely no qualms about getting a result any way i could.

      • Yeah I can see him coaching 20 more years at least oh well. Hopefull cancers like Mou and Bob get replaced by the new Peps and Klopps.

      • Yeah he’s great too. I guess there is more than one way to be successful? Still, I’ve heard some complain Pep’s style is boring too. No pleasing some people.

      • When you spend like Mou does you have no excuse to play like he does. That’s what got him fired from Real Madrid.

      • To be fair, when you’ve been as successful as he has been throughout your career, you’re entitled to do whatever you want with your team and your money…

        That being said, I do sympathize with people who are more than a bit disappointed that Chelsea aren’t being more… positive, especially considering they can be pretty entertaining when they do decide to have a right go at scoring.

        I’m a big fan of Mourinho, but if he doesn’t end up winning the whole thing playing “his way,” then I imagine there will be plenty of people cheering for “good soccer.”

      • dominated Costa and co. today in the area. Costa not used to that. we’ll see if he can recover on the road or not

        Cahill would start for me, and Terry too if healthy

      • Completely agree but I was saying that England’s CB options are Terry, then Cahill, then air, then earth, then Chris Smalling/Steven Caulker/Joleon Lescott/Michael Dawson’s ghost.

      • I agree about Terry for England, but from what I’ve heard on TalkSport, theres little chance of Terry rejoining the England squad due to issues btw him and the FA. In fact the general tone of the English is that they believe they have little chance of doing well at this WC and a lot of them want to bring a lot of young blood in to get the experience. i.e. Shaw over Cole, Stones, and a few others.

      • I think England can do okay this summer. Slap their best position players together with the English members of Liverpool’s Starting XI and try to score more goals than they will inevitably let in.

        Sturridge, Sterling, Gerrard, Henderson, Johnson are already in place. Rooney subs for Suarez. Wilshere for Coutinho. Cole/Baines at LB. Cahill’s a lock at CB. Other CB is the weak point…choose the least of the remaining evils.

  3. Although biased as a Chelsea fan, I don’t have a problem with the tactics. Its what won us the CL 2 years ago, and to be honest it may be tactics that (the US) we may have to deploy if we want to advance in the WC. Jose is parking the bus for the first 70-80 mins as to not concede any goals. Then bring on an attacker or two late to possibly steal an away goal. I expect different tactics at the Bridge next week. This really shouldn’t surprise anyone. Its Jose Mourhino after all. You play to advance to the next round, and this is how Chelsea feel they will advance. Not pretty but effective.

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    • You expect different tactics? I don’t, this is how Jose has his teams play. I get that this style gets results but to me there is more to be said than just getting results, you shouldn’t play like Norwich when you have unlimited resources. It is just awful to watch and people are justifiable not fans of it.

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    • With US playing Germany, bunkering is a bit more reasonable of a tactic. Chelsea are the 4th highest paid team in the world – how on earth do they have to resort to this?

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  4. Chelsea seriously does not benefit from NOT scoring here.

    Chelsea well be without Mikel, Terry, Lampard and maybe Cech in the second game.

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    • Defense, defense, defense, and defense. They will be able to call on Oscar, potentially Hazard, Ba, Eto’o, and Salah in the second leg.

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    • It really doesn’t help them. 1-1 helps. 0-0 draw does nothing especially as now Chelsea has to attack… which helps AM.

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  5. Wait, referee just called an intentional handball on Lampard and decided not to give him a yellow for it? That’s nonsense.

    Too chicken to send off a Chelsea cheater?

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  6. Terrible refereeing to give Gabi a yellow card after Lampard refuses to come talk to him.

    So he commits an intentional handball and isn’t sent off with his second yellow for it and then refuses to come to the referee after a good 10 to 15 seconds of the official telling him to, and then Atletico’s captain is carded.

    Shameful.

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    • Well Intentional isn’t what we’re looking for, we look for Deliberate handling. And the only punishment for Handling the ball deliberately is a Direct Free Kick. There is no card requirement for handling, unless it was used deliberately to stop the ball going to another player, like for the purposes of breaking up an attack.

      If it’s just a deliberate handling though, it’s a direct free kick, nothing more.

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  7. There’s some of that great pro-English bias.

    Arda Turan made the most of a full exposed stud through his ankle? Right English homers, right.

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  8. it’s not saying much, but i think the ‘moral outrage’ comments here are actually more entertaining than the game. 🙂

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    • It’s one thing to be an underdog, bunkering against a better team – I can enjoy and admire that game. I can’t admire when a team who’s payroll is double their opponents, and still resort to this kind of game. What does it say about Chelsea?

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  9. so, just looking at the comments at halftime (not limited to this site), i’m assuming:

    – chelsea are down to 10 men (at least?)
    – they’ve been suspended from the champions league for, um, ‘not playing soccer’, apparently
    – atletico’s fans are annoyed because, amusingly, they have a problem with defensive, physical play.

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      • Naw, its not that. It’s just really clear that Chelsea wants a 0-0 Draw. Athletic plays defense like this too and sadly I bet they play like Chelsea did tonight in London.

        Its gunna go to pens or 1 goal wins it next week.

  10. Great, this is what everybody wanted to watch.

    Chelsea not playing soccer, sitting 10 men in the box consistently and taking every opportunity to push, shove, and kick when possible.

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    • It’s pretty mind numbing. They have no intention of scoring. They thought about it once on a counter “attack” and then again on a set piece. Chelsea is basically playing 4 defensively minded midfielders then Willian who is a defensively minded winger.

      Chelsea has 1 shot and that free kick from Luiz. So we could count that as 2 but… uh…. ya.

      I wish that Reading game was on TV…

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  11. I heard that if Chelsea wins UCL, then the 4th place EPL team does not get to go. Is that right? Should Everton and Arsenal be rooting for Atletico, if they werent already?

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    • I’m pretty sure this is wrong. If Chelsea were not in the top 4 (like a few years back) and won, then the 4th place team (which was Tottenham a few years ago) doesn’t go, due to their automatic berth.

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      • That would be logical, but I heard something to that effect in the HCFC-AFC game commentary. “Arsenal cant count on the Champions League until they find out what happens to Chelsea”. But logically, it seems that the FA should have 4 spots, and if the winner is in the top 4 then the other top 4 teams still get to go.

      • It sounds like you guys are saying the same thing. But yes, England get four spots, which are typically allocated to the top 4 EPL finishers. However, if a team wins the CL, they take the berth of the 4th place finisher, as Chelsea did to Tottenham a few years ago.

        This was changed after 2005, when Liverpool won the CL but finished 6th in the EPL. As an interim solution, UEFA granted a 5th spot to Liverpool (Everton had finished fourth), but forced them to go through all qualifying rounds, which they did. Everton did not make it through qualifying, losing to eventual semi-finalists Villareal. So there were only 4 English teams in the group stage. The current rule is as described above (which it sounds like both of you understand anyway)

      • If Chelsea wins the UCL and finishes in the top 4 of the Premier League, then the top 4 get England’s four spots. There is almost no chance that Chelsea will finish outside the top 4 this season, so 4th place will be good enough to get in the playoff round of the UCL (top 3 automatically go to the group stage).

    • That would only be true if Chelsea won the UCL and finished outside of the top 4 in the Premier League, which doesn’t look likely.

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    • This is almost certainly a vague reference to financial fair play, which chelsea and man city I believe were found in violation of. Theoretically either could be booted from the CL next year for not having revenue match/exceed costs, but that is unlikely to be enforced.

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  12. David Luiz tried to shove the A. Madrid player down pretty violently and ended up shoving him through Cech’s legs as Cech was at the peak of his jump.

    David Luiz just took Cech out of the game.

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  13. Is this the same color commentator along with Tyler as in the last Chelsea UCL match? Either way, it will be interesting to see if the pro-Chelsea bias is so evident again…

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      • Evidently a number of people. You know this, of course, as you yourself said the last time around that you were surprised by how many people here commented on it. (Then you pretended it could all just be written off as anti-Mourinho sentiment.) Guess you’ve forgotten, though.

      • No I recall telling people to mute it, which actually solves the problem, rather than posting endlessly about it, which doesn’t. A lot of it surely is anti-Mourinho sentiment. I get it – he doesn’t play the most attractive football; apparently today’s game is particularly dire. But his job is to win trophies and he’s better at that than most.

      • Nope, you said you were surprised about how many people were commenting on it. You could look it up.

        But if you don’t want more objectivity in your sports commentators, that of course is your call and you are as free to complain about announcers not being sufficiently homerish as others are about them being too obviously biased.

      • Posting endlessly about the “American-ness” of our players doesn’t solve anything either, yet you continue to do it.

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