Chelsea vs. Atletico Madrid player ratings: Kante dominates, Pulisic gets assist; Suarez, Felix struggle
Chelsea #Chelsea
Chelsea booked their place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. It was another defensive masterclass from the Blues, who held the Atletico side at bay across the tie to earn a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Hakim Ziyech finished off a 34th-minute counter-attack led by Kai Havertz and Timo Werner. That was enough to kill off Atletico, who struggled to truly test Edouard Mendy and the Chelsea defense, even if they might have felt aggrieved to have been denied a penalty just before the game’s opening goal when Cesar Azpilicueta appeared to shove Yannick Carrasco to the ground.
Diego Simeone’s team would ultimately have the fight ground out of them, losing Stefan Savic to an 81st-minute red card that ended any lingering hope of a fightback before substitutes Christian Pulisic and Emerson combined to net a second for the Blues in added time.
Chelsea player ratings
Edouard Mendy
Yet again against Atletico, Mendy could scarcely have imagined how quiet a night he would have had. Admittedly on this occasion he did have saves to make and did so well, particularly late on from Joao Felix, coupled with solid distribution with the ball at his feet.
Rating: 7
Cesar Azpilicueta
Perhaps the only defender to have half a wobble in the first half when he seemed to shove Yannick Carrasco to the deck. It was probably a penalty but it would not have reflected an impressive showing from Azpilicueta if he had been the one to make an error for Chelsea. He passed the ball quite excellently and patrolled his side of defense with ease.
Rating: 7
Kurt Zouma
Zouma stood tall at a crucial moment in the 15th minute when he found himself one-on-one with Suarez, sticking a boot out and stealing the ball back for Chelsea. That was the story of a night where no one in a blue shirt won more aerial duels nor made more clearances.
Rating: 8
Antonio Rudiger
After getting no joy against Zouma early, Suarez attempted to give more problems to Rudiger and had no greater success there. The German combined steely determination in defense with an ability to step into midfield and give Chelsea another outlet in possession.
Rating: 8
Reece James
Atletico Madrid are not the first and won’t be the last team to find it nigh-on impossible to defend James’ crossing, varied but consistently in just the right spot to test the defense. It said everything about the defensive work James was doing that Yannick Carrasco was the first Atleti attacker to be withdrawn.
Rating: 7
Mateo Kovacic
Kovacic was reliability personified, keeping possession ticking over and ensuring that Havertz and the rest of the front three got quick ball they could work with.
Rating: 7
N’Golo Kante
Here was a game that suited Kante to a tee, one where he could do a little bit of everything quite superbly. One moment he was darting through the press, the next sprinting back to whip the ball off Joao Felix’s toes. His passing was excellent but really this was a game where his defensive contributions shone through.
Rating: 9
Marcos Alonso
As was the case under Antonio Conte, Alonso looks like an individual who can hold down an entire flank with his energy. His final ball was at times lacking but there were moments in the first half in particular where he dovetailed excellently with Kai Havertz.
Rating: 7
Hakim Ziyech
His determination to turn any spell of possession into a shot was a welcome diversion in such a tense encounter. Ziyech certainly had the quality to test Atletico’s defense and the vision to make for an excellent foil to Werner and Havertz.
Rating: 7
Kai Havertz
An excellent performance from Havertz, who was as important as anyone in driving Chelsea up the lines, dropping deep to offer a pass to teammates and always looking to spin and drive forward. He showed strength and composure to hold off pressure and slip Werner in behind on Chelsea’s counter in a game where he showed admirable strength despite being on the receiving end of more fouls than any other player after 72 minutes.
Rating: 8
Timo Werner
His contribution to the opening goal was simply outstanding, not just the timing of his run and weight of the pass from which Ziyech scored but the commitment to track back and block Kieran Trippier’s cross to start the move in the first place. That was typical of a player prepared to cover the hard yards.
Rating: 7
Christian Pulisic (sub, Ziyech, 77′)
There were certainly chances for Pulisic before his shrewd late assist for Emerson, where he held possession on the counter for just long enough before putting the ball right in the path of his No. 33.
Rating: 6
Manager – Thomas Tuchel
That Chelsea have transformed from sieve to defensive powerhouse in less than two months is credit to their manager, who has instilled a system his players have grasped with ease.
Rating: 8
Atletico Madrid player ratings
Jan OblakShould have done better on Ziyech’s goal, letting it slip under him. Hard to recover from that. Dealt fairly well with crosses and was beaten late by a fierce strike. Had a couple good saves though.
Rating: 5
Renan LodiThe effort was there, and he generally came out on top of his duels and recovered the ball well. With the ball, he was quite poor though, completing just 50 percent of his passes before coming off.
Rating: 5
Stefan SavicHustled back to try and stop Ziyech’s goal but just couldn’t do it. Strong in the air and made some really important stops to keep his team in it before getting a silly red card for an elbow on Rudiger. They had no chance of coming back after that mistake.
Rating: 4
Jose GimenezGot caught too far forward and wasn’t even close to being able to defend on Ziyech’s goal due to trying to attack. Was strong otherwise, from in the air to tackling.
Rating: 6
Kieran TrippierCreated a couple looks but his passing was horrid at times. Became less noticeable as the game went on and was then taken off.
Rating: 4
SaulSat deep and was fairly decent defensively, including an important block on Ziyech. Never really was able to push forward with the ball to help generate something or take a crack at goal himself.
Rating: 5
KokeJust couldn’t keep up with Chelsea’s speed as Timo Werner blew by him on the opener. Offered nothing going forward and couldn’t keep up with Chelsea’s quick passing.
Rating: 5
Yannick CarrascoCould have won a penalty in the first half but didn’t do enough to sell it. Sloppy otherwise, offering very little. Came off after just 53 minutes.
Rating: 3
Marcos LlorenteContinued to just fail to deliver in UCL. His passing was off, failing to create anything noticeable. Delivers in La Liga and just doesn’t in Europe.
Rating: 3
Luis SuarezOne shot and was taken off after 59 minutes. He looked in disbelief that he was subbed off. Never felt like Atleti had a chance after he was removed. Suarez hasn’t scored a UCL goal on the road since 2015.
Rating: 3
Joao Felix
He was sharp in his passing, but that isn’t why he is paid millions. He was pretty much no threat in attack until late, blowing the best chance of the game.
Rating: 3
Moussa Dembele (sub, Carrasco, 51′)
Came off the bench and had one decent look from a tight angle that he completely shanked.
Rating: 3
Mario Hermoso (sub, Rodi, 46′)
Played the second half and was pretty good. Showed toughness, didn’t back down from any challenge.
Rating: 5
Angel Correa (sub, Suarez, 59′)
Sub in the second half, with the hope of adding something to attack. Added nothing, creating zero chances and having no shots.
Rating: 4
Manager – Diego Simeone
Not too good for Diego Simeone. The team once again looked over-matched, and taking Suarez off so early was a bit baffling, as was giving Joao Felix that many minutes. Neither has cut it in the Champions League. They never felt like a team that was going through.
Rating: 4