Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid- Ball in Mourinho’s court

Atletico Madrid and Chelsea have played out a nil all draw in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final tie at the Estadio Vincente Calderon in Spain.

The home side are four points clear at the top of La Liga and sought to add to their nine match winning streak in the competition.

Forward Diego Costa returned to the side following an injury in the quarter-final.

Chelsea came into their seventh UCL semi-final off the back of a 2-1 loss to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge over the weekend.

Jose Mourinho’s structure had a strong emphasis on defence as he hoped to negate the possibility of any goals and return to England for the second leg unscathed.

The home side attacked from the get go and continually pressured the opposition defence with their pace on the counter attack.

An Atletico corner in the 15^th minute saw Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Lech replaced by Australian Mark Schwarzer, following an arm injury sustained from an awkward fall.

Despite the setback, it was a focused and orderly defence that prevented the home side from converting chances.

The second half commenced in much the same way as the first as Diego Simeone’s men enjoyed 62 per cent of possession and continued to find the gaps in the opposition defence, with Raul Garcia threatening down the right flank.

Yet the Spanish side failed to capitalise on the 26 chances made.

The final whistle gave Chelsea a firm advantage going into the second leg despite the injury to Captain John Terry in the 72^nd minute and the yellow cards to John Mikel and Frank Lampard, who will miss the next match.

Both teams will face off for the concluding clash of the tie in Stamford Bridge in London on May first.