After winning the first leg in the round of 16 2-0 at Kingsmeadow, Chelsea travel to Monza to face Atletico Madrid with hope to qualify for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Women's Champions League.

While Atleti's best campaign ended in the quarterfinals against Barcelona last season, Chelsea have already reached the semifinals of the competition twice and with his current squad, Hayes will do anything to take the unprecedented title to London.

  • Team news

Emma Hayes will have three absences on her list while José Luis Sanchez will have his full team. 

The U-Power Stadium in Monza was chosen by the Colchoneros as the Blues cannot step on Spanish territory due to travel restrictions.

Atletico Madrid's last match for Primera Iberdrola was a 4-0 win against Real Betis, a victory that left the team three points behind third-place Real Madrid and qualification to next season's European competition. The goals were from Leicy Santos, Deyna Castellanos, Amanda Sampedro and Ajara Nchout.

Meanwhile, Chelsea is leading the FA Women's Super League with 41 points, two ahead of runner-up Manchester City. Over the weekend, the Blues beat West Ham 2-0 through Sam Kerr and Bethany England: a goal and an assist for each. Kerr is the runner-up top goal scorer in the league with 12 goals, behind only Vivianne Miedema who has 14.

Chelsea arrive at Monza with three absences in their team. They won’t count with Sophie Ingle, who is suspended after a red card on the last match, and Erin Cuthbert, because of injury. Magda Eriksson has not played in the last two matches but travelled with the team to Monza. 

  • Predicted line-ups

Atletico Madrid: Lindahl; Van Dongen, Aleixandri, Tounkara, Guagni; Meseguer, Santos; Sampedro, Duggan; Castellanos, Ludmila. 

Chelsea: Berger; Charles, Mjelde, Bright, Andersson; Leupolz, Ji, Kirby; Harder, Kerr, England.

  • Ones to watch

Hedvig Lindahl is always one of Atletico highlights, as she is an experienced and very safe goalkeeper. The Swede has already played for Chelsea and is an idol for the fans. When Atleti's defence fails, Lindahl shows what comes and shines. In Maren Mjelde's penalty goal, she hits the side but was unsuccessful.

Ludmila da Silva and Deyna Castellanos are also worth mentioning. Besides the two had participated together in 28 goals in the season, they are very offensive players that attack the opponent's defence. Last match, Lud's counterattacks were very important and, despite Castellanos had missed a penalty, she is a player who moves a lot and worries her opponents.

Fran Kirby has shown how well her return did her. Since then, there have been eight goals for the league and three for the Champions. This way, nothing is more important than her persistence. In her goal against Atleti, she was unsuccessful in her submission first and then she hit the target after redoing the play.

Another Chelsea highlight is Ann Katrin Berger, who was very secure in the first leg and took two penalties from two different scorers. Furthermore, she played until the end of the match even after colliding with her colleague Erin Cuthbert. Finally, Guro Reiten is the competition's assistances leader with six assists, an average of 2.80 per match.

  • How to watch

The match kicks off at 12:30 p.m. (GMT) at the U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy.

The match will be shown on BT Sport in the UK and on Gol in Spain. 

International fans can also watch the clash on ChelseaFC.com and the 5th Stand app, not including previous countries. 
 

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