TheSportsCampus

Chelsea have made at least one visit to Spain in each of the last five UEFA Champions League seasons and their Matchday 4 fixture at the Vicente Calderón offers them the chance to continue an impressive run in the country at the expense of Club Atlético de Madrid. Matchday 3 suggested the London club should have little to fear in Madrid, Salomon Kalou scoring either side of half-time with Frank Lampard and a Luis Perea own goal completing a 4-0 win that prompted the departure of Abel Resino. The coach leaves Atlético with the club fourth in Group D having collected one point from three matches, while Chelsea have won every game to establish a three-point lead at the top of the standings.

Before the Stamford Bridge fixture the teams had never met in a competitive fixture but the Premier League outfit are unbeaten in their last five games in Spain. Chelsea won two of those games, both 2-1 against Valencia CF and both in 2007, one a quarter-final and the other a group-stage contest. The sequence also includes three draws against FC Barcelona, most recently in last season's semi-final when a 0-0 away stalemate in the first leg left the English side optimistic only for Andrés Iniesta to strike in added time at Stamford Bridge as Barça advanced on away goals.

Chelsea's win at APOEL FC on Matchday 2 ended their recent indifferent away form in the UEFA Champions League. They failed to win on their travels in last season's group stage though in the knockout rounds they drew at Juventus and Barcelona either side of a 3-1 victory at Liverpool. Chelsea have hardly been prolific on their travels, since a 2-1 defeat by Fenerbahçe SK in the 2007/08 quarter-final first leg, Chelsea have played eight away games in the UEFA Champions League, not including their defeat on penalties in the 2008 final in Moscow against Manchester United, and have drawn five, won two and lost one.

The history lesson aside, it is the present that is looking most promising for Chelsea, having won 14 of their 16 matches in Premier League, UEFA Champions League and League Cup action this season. For the second time in four days, Chelsea put four goals past Bolton without reply and since losing 2-1 at Aston Villa on 17 October, Chelsea have struck 17 times and conceded zero goals en route to four successive wins. The 4-0 defeat of Atlético on Matchday 3 was followed by a 5-0 home win against Blackburn Rovers on 24 October, Frank Lampard scoring twice and Michael Essien getting his first league goal since March.

Atlético meanwhile will take heart from the fact that they have never lost in a competitive home game against English opponents. The last two fixtures ended in draws, against Liverpool FC in last season's group stage and Bolton Wanderers in the previous year's UEFA Cup round of 32, but before that the Madrid club had won four of the five matches. The goalless draw against APOEL on Matchday 1 extended Atlético's unbeaten run at home in the UEFA Champions League. Last season, their first in the competition for 12 years, they won two and drew one of their group games and finished all-square with FC Porto in Madrid in the first knockout round, bowing out on away goals.

This season however has started on a  very different note with Atletico. They have 1 draw and two loses in the Champions League to add to their 1 win, 4 draws and 4 losses in the league so far. With 7 points from 9 games, they are in the drop zone in Spain, and new boss Quique Sánchez Flores had the most inauspicious debuts beaten 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao last weekend. He is certain to face a baptism by fire as the visit from Chelsea is followed by the scary idea of Ronaldo, Kaka and Raul dropping in from across town.

Atletico are at near full-strength, with only a few fringe players sidelined with injury. Chelsea on the other hand will be without first choice full-backs Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa, both struggling with knee injuries. They do however welcome back Didier Drogba after he has finished serving a three-match suspension, after abusing the referee at the end of Chelsea's loss to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final at the back end of last season. The powerful Ivorian will be making his first appearance of this campaign, and will be keen to make up for lost time.

Despite Chelsea going into this match as HUGE favourites, the fact that they have a new man at the helm is likely to inspire the Atletico's stars. That, coupled with the fact that spots are up for grabs for the Madrid derby should mean that at the very least Atletico are likely to make themselves hard to beat. With players of the quality of Diego Forlan, Simao and Kun Aguero in their line-up, there is always the chance of someone being able to produce a moment of magic that can turn a game around, but that being said, who would want to come up against Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard given the form they are in. It is hard to see this game as anything other than 3 easy points for Chelsea, and a confirmed passage to the round of 16.

Likely teams:

Atlético Madrid: Asenjo; Ujfaluši, Pablo, Juanito, Antonio López; Maxi Rodríguez, Raúl García, Assunção, Simão; Agüero, Forlán.

Chelsea: Čech; Ivanović, Carvalho, Terry, Belleti; Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Deco; Anelka, Drogba.

File Photograph Copyright: Ryu Voelkel 

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