Atletico madrid
Twelve European clubs announce launch of disputed Super League
Six Premier League teams - Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham - are involved, alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona,...
With Liverpool to come in the Champions League on Tuesday and a Clasico against Barcelona next weekend, Madrid welcomed a comfortable win thanks to goals from Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema.
Thomas Tuchel boasts the longest ever unbeaten start by a Chelsea boss after moving past Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Atletico trail 1-0 after Olivier Giroud's bicycle kick lit up an uneventful first game at the Wanda Metropolitano last month and handed Chelsea a crucial advantage heading into this week's second leg.
On Sunday, they face Real Madrid, who are five points behind having played a game more, and who have scoring problems of their own, this weekend without the injured Karim Benzema, and more generally, since Cristiano Ronaldo left in 2018.
Giroud's acrobatic strike was initially ruled out for offside but stood after VAR showed Mario Hermoso had got the final touch, delivering a huge blow to Atletico's hopes of reaching the quarterfinals.
If there is a need for perspective - that the speed of the fall is in part due to the heights previously reached - Spain's dominance in Europe has also been receding for some time.
Chelsea said in a statement on their website that the date of the match, February 23, and the kick-off time (2000 GMT) would remain the same.
Bayern Munich, who beat PSG in the 2020 final, play Lazio in the knockout phase while 2012 winners Chelsea have a tough task against Atletico Madrid.
Yannick Carrasco finished brilliantly from range after mistakes from Gerard Pique and Marc-Andre ter Stegen left the goal gaping but Barca, and a below-par Lionel Messi, failed to respond at the Wanda Metropolitano.
On a prolific night across Europe which also saw a rampant Borussia Moenchengladbach hit six in Ukraine, the star individual performances came from Jota and Alassane Plea.
Madrid, the record 13-time European champions, went down to a 3-2 home loss against Shakhtar Donetsk, showing how far Zinedine Zidane's side are just now from the standards being set by Bayern.
Just 59 days after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Lisbon final, Bayern host Atletico behind closed doors.
The two heavyweights were drawn in Group G along with Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine and Ferencvaros, the Hungarian club returning to the group stage for the first time in quarter of a century.
Since joining Barca from Liverpool in 2014, Luis Suarez has won a host of trophies, including the 2015 Champions League and four Liga titles.
Atletico on Sunday reported two individuals at the club had tested positive for coronavirus, just days before they face German club Leipzig in Lisbon, where all eight quarter-finalists will gather.
With two games left, Madrid will be crowned champions if they beat Villarreal at home on Thursday regardless of how Barca fare at the Camp Nou against Osasuna.
Madrid will return to the summit if they beat struggling Real Mallorca on Wednesday but Barcelona's victory at least puts the pressure back on Zinedine Zidane's side, whose upward momentum is yet to be reflected by the table.
Premier League leaders Liverpool enjoyed the greater possession, created more chances, drew a series of saves from Atletico keeper Jan Oblak and scored through Georginino Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino.