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Atlético Madrid dropped out of the Champions League after failing to hold onto their lead, and Chelsea dropped to second place after failing to take their chances

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Tue 5 Dec 2017 16.56 ESTFirst published on Tue 5 Dec 2017 13.45 EST
Eden Hazardshakes hands with Jan Oblak at the end of the match.
Eden Hazardshakes hands with Jan Oblak at the end of the match. Photograph: John Walton/PA
Eden Hazardshakes hands with Jan Oblak at the end of the match. Photograph: John Walton/PA

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33 mins: Lucas Hernandez scrapes his foot down the back of Morata’s calf, with the ball nowhere near. The referee, having already booked him once, lets him off with a warning. It was, to be fair, a less painful front-of-foot scraping rather than studs-up savagery.

31 mins: Chance! Bakayoko picks out Hazard in the penalty area, and he swings his right foot at it and misses completely!

28 mins: Filipe Luis crosses deep from the left to absolutely nobody, but Zappacosta assumes someone must surely be challenging for it so heads behind for a corner, unnecessarily. The corner is headed out to Partey, who thuds a shot high.

25 mins: Atletico break. Christiansen and Kante chase after Griezmann gamely, bump into each other and fall over, and the Frenchman passes to Torres on the left, who gives the ball away inexplicably.

24 mins: Another save from Oblak! Morata’s shot was from a ludicrously wide position, but it was vicious and accurate, and Oblak can’t have been expecting it, but he flings out a hand to palm it to safety.

24 mins: That’s by some way the best chance of what has so far been an emphatically goalless match. It’s also goalless in Rome, though Qarabag have just had their first shot.

22 mins: Chance for Chelsea! A throw on the right bounces off Gabi’s head and runs to Moses, who sprints into the area and cuts back to Morata, whose low, first-time shot is saved by Oblak.

17 mins: Ooooh! Christiansen comes forward and passes to Morata, who controls, turns and hits a fine shot from the edge of the area that curls not quite enough to creep in.

Lucas Hernandez fouls Eden Hazard to earn himself a yellow card. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
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16 mins: Atletico break, with Torres running down the right. He has three team-mates to his left, but after a pause he passes to Partey, who doesn’t control. Chelsea counter-break, at least until Lucas Hernandez unceremoniously takes out Hazard. Yellow card.

Fernando Torres takes on Cesar Azpilicueta and N’Golo Kante. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
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14 mins: Fabregas curls it gently into the arms of Oblak. It was a pretty-looking cross, curling pleasantly, but sadly nowhere near a blue shirt.

13 mins: Now Morata wins a free kick, after Gimenez backs into him. This one, though, is just outside Atletico’s penalty area, over on the left.

10 mins: It remains goalless in Rome, and very much goalless here too. Atletico, though, have had the better of the last few minutes. They win a free-kick on the halfway line after Morata is penalised for a push as he tries to win a header, and then pump it straight out of play.

8 mins: An encouragingly high-tempo start, if not one high in goalscoring chances. Atletico have, at least, forced a couple of throw-ins.

5 mins: And a chance for Atletico! A low shot from outside the area goes straight into Torres, who controls, somehow keeps it in a crowded area, spins and shoots, the ball deflecting off Azpilicueta and flying just high!

2 mins: Zappacosta, who has started on the left, has the first shot of the night, cutting in from the wing and bashing a 20-yarder wide.

The teams in full:

Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill, Zappacosta, Fabregas, Kante, Bakayoko, Moses, Hazard, Morata. Subs: Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Drinkwater, Pedro, Willian, Batshuayi.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Gimenez, Savic, Lucas, Filipe Luis, Koke, Thomas, Gabi, Saul, Torres, Griezmann. Subs: Miguel Moya, Godin, Carrasco, Correa, Vrsaljko, Vietto, Gameiro.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Holland).

@Simon_Burnton not sure how stupid of a question this is but what is it about fair play that would need roma's game delayed also?

— zack teale (@zackteale) December 5, 2017

Because the result there has implications for the teams here, and if they allow Atletico the advantage of knowing what’s happened there then in future teams will be getting “stuck in traffic” all over Europe. If the final matches of group stages don’t start simultaneously, sooner or later you end up with this:

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According to Marca, this is Atletico’s team. Still unconfirmed:

Oblak; Gimenez, Savic, Godin, Filipe; Koke, Gabi, Saul, Carrasco; Griezmann, Gameiro.

Still no teams, but the match is scheduled to kick off as scheduled at 7.45pm GMT. The complication is that if there’s a delay at Stamford Bridge, the match in Rome will also have to be delayed, for the sake of fair play and stuff.

This could have something to do with it. Apparently the bus arrived a couple of minutes ago.

For some strange reason the Atletico Madrid team bus has delayed.

Match officials can’t really give reasons why the bus is not here yet with less than an hour to the game. pic.twitter.com/Pr53MAWifC

— Rahman osman (@iamrahmanosman) December 5, 2017

Hello world!

Finalists in two of the last four seasons, in which time only Real Madrid have knocked them out of the competition, Atletico Madrid stand on the brink of elimination from the Champions League. Only victory at Stamford Bridge tonight can save them, though even that – with Roma two points ahead and at home to Qarabag – might not be enough (though a superior head-to-head record would see them through if both sides finish level). “We don’t have to be looking about what happens in Rome, we just have to think about us,” says Diego Simeone, their coach. “It’s not going to be a simple game. We need to take the game to where we feel we can hurt them. It’s a personal challenge to fight for everything we’ve worked for these last few years.”

Chelsea, meanwhile, have it easy. Top spot in Group C is not yet secure, but qualification is. In the circumstances, if Atletico do take the game to where they feel they can hurt them, the hosts might not be all that excited about it. A healthy half-time Roma lead over Qarabag could cast a pall of insignificance over this game, but Simeone’s talk of personal challenges and hurting them and fighting is encouraging. Time, I suppose, will tell.

Diego Costawatch: The former Atletico, former Chelsea and current Atletico striker will not be in London, because he’s busy preparing for his return to football in the new year and can’t be bothered with the inevitable circus that would have surrounded his return to Stamford Bridge. He is, apparently, training “like an animal”, which could simply mean “enthusiastically” but could, in his case, mean that he is wildly kicking, stamping and biting anyone who comes near him. “It is frustrating to see him training like an animal but not be able to play yet,” says Filipe Luis. “I know it was difficult times for him and for Chelsea. Now everybody’s happy. We want to see him play and happy again.”

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