Atletico Madrid - Chelsea (PREVIEW)

Atletico Madrid is the only team in the Semi Finals that has never won the Champions League. However, in the last years, the winner was either Barcelona, or the team that knocked Barcelona out of the competition. And you know very well how Atletico beat Barcelona in the last round. Standing in their way in the semi-final stage will be Mourinho's Chelsea who are not the most elegant team, but they sure know how to get the thing done. They have had many slip-ups this season, however, they are the best when it counts the most. It will be a huge battle between two disciplined teams with a strong defence.
All eyes will be on Diego Costa, who is having a fantastic season and is Chelsea's top transfer target in the summer for a reported fee around 45 million euros. There was an injury scare for Costa when he collided with the goal post when scoring this weekend, but is supposed to be fine and ready to play. The other talking point is Thibaut Courtois, who is on loan from Chelsea and has a clause in his contract which obliges Atletico to pay 3,5 million euro for each match he plays against his owners. Nevertheless, UEFA already stated that such clauses are not valid in UEFA competitions, so it seems like he will be allowed to play.
Chelsea are sweating over Eden Hazard's fitness, as he has not featured since being subbed during their match versus PSG. There will also be some re-shuffling at the back as Branislav Ivanovic is suspended. This probably means that Cesar Azpilicueta will move to the right-back position and we will see Ashley Cole in action after a long time. The striker position is also up for grabs at Chelsea - we could see either veteran Samuel Eto'o, the hero against PSG Demba Ba, an emotional return of Fernando Torres to Vicente Calderon or even Andre Schurlle as striker.

UPDATE - 21.4.2014: Samuel Eto'o did not travel with Chelsea - he will miss the match due to injury, so Torres is expected to lead the line. Eden Hazard did not train with the squad, but might be risked by Jose Mourinho.

Expected Lineups:

Atletico Madrid:
Courtois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Felipe Luis; Tiago, Gabi; Koke, Raul Garcia, Arda Turan, Diego Costa

Chelsea:
Cech; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole; D.Luiz, Ramires; Willian, Oscar, Hazard/Schurlle; Torres

Our Prediction:
This will be a very tight match with both teams keeping it tight at the back and waiting for a mistake by the opposition. Result: 1:1 draw.

Fernando Torres vs. Diego Costa (photo: telegraph.co.uk)