Champions League / Ben Lyttleton / 20 October 2009 / Leave a comment

Ben Lyttleton tels us how this weekend's events on the domestic front sum up the constant turmoil at Atletico Madrid. Next up, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League where Nicolas Anelka attempts to make it three in three on the scoring front.

"This club are in a constant state of flux, and the pressure is mounting on
Resino to the point where even he appears to have given up. Last week he
moaned that "the dressing-room lacks character", a sure sign that the mood
is turning against him."

Last week there was a typical Atletico Madrid situation: strike partners Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan headed off to the South American World Cup qualifiers with their sides Argentina and Uruguay facing each other with in South Africa place at stake. Atletico coach Abel Resino shrugged and knew that one of them would come back disappointed: but as it happened, they both did. Argentina won the game to reach South Africa, but Aguero did not even make the bench. Oh, and Forlan came back injured, and missed the terrible 3-0 defeat to Osasuna on Sunday night. It could only happen to Atletico.

This club are in a constant state of flux, and the pressure is mounting on Resino to the point where even he appears to have given up. Last week he moaned that "the dressing-room lacks character", a sure sign that the mood is turning against him. With only one win all season and no goals scored in their two Champions League matches so far, the first one of which was home to supposed minnows APOEL, this is hardly the best time to be taking on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge ­ especially as Chelsea themselves are coming off a bad defeat at Aston Villa.

"Football has been unkind to us," said Resino after the Osasuna game but it might get worse for them. For all their supposed fire-power up front, Atletico's real problems are at the back. They have conceded 16 goals in eight games, which, as one Spanish reporter pointed out, is more than Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla combined.

Chelsea are unbeaten at home in this competition for 19 games and have not missed Didier Drogba, serving the last match of his three-game European suspension, in either of their games so far. Nicolas Anelka was the match-winner against both Porto and APOEL and although Chelsea's 1-0 wins gave them a few jitters late on in the game, it appears that the Ancelotti way in Europe is to get the points on the board with the minimum of fuss.

But with Atletico needing to get a result to even avoid finishing fourth in the group, and their defence as awkward as it has been, I can't see Chelsea taking their foot off the gas at 1-0. Back Chelsea to get back to winning ways, and with some ease.

Recommended bets:

Chelsea to win Half-Time/Full-Time @ [2.06]
Chelsea to win 3-0 @ [10.5]

Tags: Betfair betting, Betfair odds, Champions League betting, Chelsea results, lka, Nicolas Anelka