Champion’s League Round of 16 draw was conducted today and Chelsea has drawn with Spanish giant, Atletico Madrid. Chelsea coach Frank Lampard has termed it as the toughest possible draw in the Champions League last 16 after it was pitted against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid on Monday.
Simone’s Atleti is currently in the second position of the La Liga table with the same points as Real Sociedad. They have even two games in hand and which implies they can be the league leaders with six points gap.
Atletico Madrid could have gone with a nine points lead with European Giant Real Madrid but they lost 2-0 in their previous game. It was their rarest defeat this campaign as his team has been igniting a fire. Last season, Diego Simeone’s team knocked out defending champions, Liverpool from the UCL and this season they have finished second after Bayern Munich.
Chelsea on the other hand is the group winner and has not been beaten by any side in all competitions until Everton’s 1-0 loss in the previous game of Premier League. Although they were eliminated by Bayern Munich last season, they have progressed without tasting any defeat in the group stage this campaign.
‘I think most people will say it is the toughest draw we could have had when you go on current form, how they are doing in La Liga, European experience and the quality of the team and players,’ siad Frank Lampard as per the Official Chelsea’s website.
‘On the other hand, all draws are difficult in the Champions League. We have to believe in ourselves and when that game comes around, you have to try to beat these sort of teams if you are going to win the Champions League, so it is what it is.’
‘I watched them knock Liverpool out last year and they are obviously a great team and they have that experience and they have quality in their squad. So I think most people would say they are certainly one of the toughest teams we could have drawn on paper but we’ll have to turn up and do our job and be confident we can beat them.’
The Spanish side is a strong team in the Champions League and domestically, so Lampard is well aware to take necessary precautions before facing them.
He assured that his side is confident to beat Atletico and go to the next round. He said that they need to believe in themselves and thus things will happen automatically if they can focus on working hard to beat Simeone’s side.
