Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is expecting “stingy” Chelsea to move past Atletico Madrid and into the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Blues face Diego Simeone’s side on Wednesday night as they take a 1-0 lead from the first leg back to Stamford Bridge.
Atletico have a fairly poor record against Chelsea in the Champions League having lost three matches to the Premier League side, with only Bayern Munich and Real Madrid matching that record against the La Liga outfit.
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However, Atletico are unbeaten in their last two Champions League visits to Stamford Bridge, winning one and drawing the other.
And Ferdinand is expecting a tight game but expects Chelsea to progress to the quarter-finals by the skin of their teeth.
“Atletico, you can’t ever write them off completely,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“But I think under Tuchel, there’s a stiffness. They’re stingy with giving away goals. I think they’ve got a good chance. I think Chelsea will go through tomorrow. Just.”
And fellow pundit Owen Hargreaves thinks Tuchel’s experiences in the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain will help Chelsea this season.
Hargreaves said: “I think he got that PSG team to the final. Pep spoke about experience, you see with Real… that experience at this level is essential. Simeone has got it. Tuchel has got it. I just think Chelsea are the form team right now.”
Luis Suarez pinched Antonio Rudiger’s thigh in the first leg but the Chelsea defender insists he won’t be launching a revenge mission against the Uruguayan on Wednesday.
“He defends his patch, I defend mine, this is all,” said Rudiger. “I go with no feeling of any pressure for revenge or anything like this.
“I am just focussed on our targets and that is to win the game and get through, because Atletico is not only Luis Suarez.”
Rudiger added: “Honestly, he’s a world-class player. He’s shown it at every club he has been at in Europe.
“He’s a very, very good player and he has a lot of fight in him and obviously he’s a top opponent. He just defends his patch by trying to fight for his team.”
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