Atletico Madrid got a big win in the Champions League to keep their hopes of getting through to the knockout stages alive. They’ll wrap up their action in Group C at Chelsea, who will top the group with a win on Tuesday, December 5th.
What To Know About Atletico Madrid
Antoine Griezmann hit a beautiful overhead kick to open up the scoring for Atletico against Roma at home, and then Kevin Gamiero scored to give Atletico a 2-0 win. That gives Atletico six points, which is two points behind Roma for second place, but it was definitely their best performance in the Champions League so far this season. However, it might be too little, too late as they need FK Qarabag to at least hold Roma to a draw in Italy, although Qarabag has done the same to Atletico twice this season. It was a great game from Griezmann, who had been struggling in all competitions and this could be the spark that the French striker needs to get his campaign going. He now leads Atletico in the Champions League with two goals, while Gameiro and Thomas each have one goal.
What To Know About Chelsea
Chelsea will go through to the next round after a 4-0 win at Qarabag in which the home team got a red card after 19 minutes, Eden Hazard (who leads Chelsea with three goals) netted a penalty kick two minutes later and it was downhill from there. Cesc Fabregas also scored from the spot and Willian scored in either half for Chelsea, who will be trying to wrap up the top spot (which means playing a second-place team in the knockout stage), so they’re not going to let Atletico Madrid off the hook. Also, given the recent history between Atletico and Chelsea, the English team would love to be the ones that knocked Atletico out. Atletico eliminated Chelsea in the semifinals of the 2014 Champions League, and Diego Costa was either held out of Chelsea, or he held out, until he got a January move to Atletico. Winning first place in the group is the goal for Chelsea, but eliminating Atletico would make it even sweeter.
Outlook
Chelsea are favored at home at +100, and Atletico are rated at +250, while a draw is listed at +260. Each team has won two and drawn two of their six meetings, with Chelsea taking the first meeting 2-1 at Atletico on September 27th. Griezmann scored from the penalty spot in the 40th minute, but Alvaro Morata equalized in the 59th minute and then Michy Batshuayi netted the winner in the fourth minute of second-half injury time. Chelsea are a much better team with N’Golo Kante back in the lineup, and he is always instrumental to getting the ball back and recycling possession for Chelsea, and they’ll look to get an early goal to put the game away. Atletico will likely respond and they’re definitely good enough to get a draw, but a draw won’t be enough and it’ll send them to the Europa League.
Champions League Betting Pick: Draw
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