Injury- plagued Chelsea set for Atletico Madrid challenge in Bucharest
CHELSEA are looking to bounce back from their disappointment of Sunday fast ahead of tonight’s clash with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Thomas Tuchel’s side dropped points for only the second time under his watch as they drew 1- 1 with Southampton on Saturday.
The Blues are now unbeaten in seven games since the German took charge, winning five of those. But failure to beat the Saints means they missed the chance to close the gap on Manchester United and Leicester City, who both recorded Sunday victories.
There is no time to rest though, with Champions League action returning this week with Chelsea heading to Bucharest to play an away tie against Atletico.
Chelsea were once again without centre- back Thiago Silva for the clash with the Saints as he continues to recover from a muscle injury. The former Paris Saint- Germain ace was forced off in the victory over Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month and has missed the last three matches since.
Ahead of the game at St Mary’s, Tuchel confirmed: “Thiago will be out for the game, he’s not ready for the game.”
After picking up a minor injury in training ahead of the 1- 0 win over Spurs, it was first thought that attacking-midfielder Havertz would just miss the showdown with Jose Mourinho’s side. However, the former Bayer Leverkusen man missed four games on the bounce, with the win over Newcastle coming too soon for the Germany international. He was passed fit to face the Saints. “Kai Havertz is back in training and can join us in Southampton,” Tuchel said in his pre- match press conference.