Chelsea will face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 today, March 17 without Jorginho and Mason Mount. They are both suspended for the match because of the number of bookings they have received ahead of the game.
The two players have been among the most productive members of coach Thomas Tuchel’s team. For instance, Jorginho has maintained his position as the club’s penalty taker under coach Tuchel just like in the era of Frank Lampard.
On the other hand, Mason Mount is seen as one of the biggest prospects at the club who has remained so consistent under Tuchel like under Lampard who first gave him the platform to shine at the club before the 2019-2020 season.
So far this season, the combination of Jorginho and Mason Mount have produced six of the 13 goals Chelsea have recorded since Tuchel became the coach of the club in January this year.
In the first leg of the round of 16 against Atletico Madrid, Jorginho and Mason Mount played a vital role to give Chelsea a 1-0 away win over the Spanish giants. However, it took the overhead kick of Olivier Giroud to seal the victory for the London club.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, the services of Jorginho and Mason Mount would not be available for the club at Stamford Bridge tonight and the club would attempt to scale through to the next round by beating or drawing with Atletico Madrid.
“They are two key players for us, especially Mason for his offensive skills,” Thomas Tuchel said ahead of the Champions League game.
“They have been important players so far but we have a group so the challenge is to adapt and find solutions.”
🗣️ 'We need our highest level.'
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 17, 2021
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Thomas Tuchel is yet to lose a game since he took over from Frank Lampard in January. He is not expected to start losing against in-form Atletico Madrid at 21:00 today. Ahead of the game, the German coach said his team would be patient and aggressive against the Spanish club.
“Atletico is one of the teams to give away the fewest chances in the whole of Europe so it’s very important to be patient and keep this level going”, Tuchel said.
“We have big respect for them because we are playing against the leaders in Spain and we did an outstanding job in Bucharest.
“We need to be focused, play a high-intensity match, and play with hunger, aggression, and a high level.”
While the coach of Atletico Madrid said: “Chelsea don’t have a weakness. The only thing is they don’t know what can happen from a negative point of view – they have not had a negative result yet.
“We don’t know how they will approach it, but I know what we want, which is to win.”
