UCL: Chelsea draw Atletico in Madrid

The return leg will be played in a fortnight.
 
Chelsea Tuesday evening at the Vicente Calderon gave their quest for a place in the final of this year’s Champions League a good boost as they were able to force their host, Atletico Madrid, to goalless draw in their first leg semi-final duel.
 
Atletico, who edged out fellow Spanish club, Barcelona, in the quarter final started out brightly on Tuesday and looked to take the lead early on as Koke crossed the ball in for Diego Costa, but Petr Cech came off his line to claim it before the striker could tap it in.
 
However, the goalkeeper was forced off just 15 minutes into the game after landing awkwardly after a collision with Raul Garcia, bringing Mark Schwarzer on in his place.
 
While Cech’s replacement did a yeoman job to deny the home team any goal, his opposite number Thibaut Courtois was also up to speed at the other end against his parent club as he kept it tight at the back for Atletico.
 
At the end of 90 minutes, it was all squared in Madrid thus setting the stage for a potentially explosive tie at Stamford Bridge next week.
 
While Chelsea will be hoping to shore up their squad for the second leg with the possible return of Samuel Eto’o, they are sure to be without Lampard and John Obi Mikel for the second leg of the tie at Stamford Bridge next week because of their second-half yellow cards, while Gabi will miss the tie for the Spanish side.