Chelsea v Atletico Madrid player ratings
Chelsea strolled to victory against Atletico Madrid to move into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Here’s how we rated the Blues players in the 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Edouard Mendy: 7
He had almost nothing to do until an excellent reaction save in the 92nd minute. Mendy was calm with the ball at his feet and played a big part in the approach to playing out from the back.
Cesar Apilicueta: 7
Made countless intelligent runs to join in and provide the extra man in attack and was generally impressive defensively. He was however fortunate to avoid giving away a penalty at 0-0 when he briefly tugged Yannick Carrasco‘s shirt having under-hit a back pass.
Kurt Zouma: 8
An aggressive front-foot defensive display although he was not always entirely comfortable in possession against Atletico’s high press.
Antonio Rudiger: 9
An awesome display from Rudiger, who apart from taking an unnecessary risk with a first-half barge in the box was immaculate at the back, excellent with the ball at his feet and impressive with his passing.
Reece James: 8
A permanent attacking threat, good on the ball, always available and powerful and faultless at the other end.
N’Golo Kante: 9
The Frenchman had a steady start but was soon at his imperious best, mopping up play, making a couple of vital challenges after tracking back and becoming increasingly influential in attack.
Mateo Kovacic: 8
He led the press from the off, chasing and harrying deep in Atletico territory but never taking too many risks. Kovacic was economical when using the ball and also managed to get forward and support play.
Marcos Alonso: 7
Alonso was never troubled defensively and a constant presence as Chelsea searched for goals to end the tie early.
Hakim Ziyech: 8
There were plenty of misplaced passes but his confidence was unshakeable. Ziyech was always looking for the killer pass, he teed up a couple of decent chances and almost scored with a fizzing strike.
Kai Havertz: 8
A third consecutive start for the German, who was heavily involved with his movement and quality on the ball shining through.
Timo Werner: 8
Werner had one of his best games in a Chelsea shirt, setting up Ziyech’s goal, stretching the play and never allowing the defence to relax. He was unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions.
Christian Pulisic: 6
He set up the clinching second goal with a superb run and pass.
Callum Hudson-Odoi: 6
He could have scored with his first touch and again soon after in a lively cameo.
