I called through to Mrs Palmer in the next room.
Myles : “Jose’s parked the bus in Madrid.”
Jan : “Is that what he said?”
Myles: “No but that’s what his team selection says.”
Mourinho hasn’t started Rashford but the dynamic youngster could still be his matchwinner from the bench.
Liverpool could only draw with Spartak last night but mighty Manchester United might be strong enough to beat CSKA in Moscow.
However, the cautious Special One likes to see the pitch and the atmosphere and the formation and firepower of his opponents.
He doesn’t want people saying, “Oh, Jose got outsmarted last night.”
And he doesn’t like conceding goals, or even conceding chances. Never has, never will.
Team news :
CSKA Moscow: Akinfeev; Vasin, V Berezutsky, Ignasevich; Fernandes, Wernbloom, Dzagoev, Golovin, Shchennikov; Chalov, Vitinho. Subs: Pomazun, A Berezutsky, Milanov, Nababkin, Natcho, Zhamaletdinov, Kuchaev.
Manchester United: De Gea; Lindelof, Bailly, Smalling; Young, Matic, Herrera, Blind; Mkhitaryan, Lukaku, Martial. Subs: Romero, Tuanzebe, Darmian, Mata, McTominay, Lingard, Rashford.
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden).
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Chelsea are not stupid.
They know that Atletico Madrid is very hard place to go and win.
Diego Simeone’s side are very hard to contain at home. And they also know how to shut up shop.
On Matchday 1 they went to Roma and got a 0-0 & Simeone thinks his team can do that anywhere.
His warriors have reached two of the last four Champions League Finals, so they’ve been knocking on the door for a while.
Atletico v Chelsea team news:
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Juanfran, Lucas, Godin, Luis, Koke, Thomas, Saul, Carrasco, Correa, Griezmann
Subs: Moya, Torres, Gabi, Savic, Vietto, Gaitan, Gimenez
Chelsea: Courtois, Apzilicueta, Cahill, Luiz; Moses, Kante, Bakayoko, Alonso; Hazard, Fabregas; Morata
Subs: Caballero, Rudiger, Pedro, Zappacosta, Willian, Batshuayi, Christensen.
Good test for Chelsea, this.
I’m a big fan of keeper Oblak and bearded Belgian winger Carrasco. Is Hazard now fully match-fit and able to skip past tackles? We shall soon see.
Alvaro Morata will get plenty of abuse because he played for Real .
Sky MNF’s slow-motion analysis by Thierry Henry was very informative on the detail of Morata’s educated footwork.
