Atlético open new home with Chelsea contest

Club Atlético de Madrid hope the fine record they enjoyed at the Vicente Calderón will carry over to their new Estadio Metropolitano home as the stadium makes its European debut with a visit from Chelsea FC.

• Atlético, who left the Calderón at the end of 2016/17 having resided there for 51 years, are unbeaten at home against English opponents, and have built their recent European successes on formidable home form.

• The Spanish side opened 2017/18 with a goalless draw at AS Roma on matchday one, while Chelsea marked their return to the UEFA Champions League with an impressive 6-0 dismissal of debutants Qarabağ FK at Stamford Bridge.

Previous meetings
• The teams' last encounters came in the 2013/14 semi-finals, when the first game in Spain finished goalless.

• The line-ups at the Vicente Calderón on 22 April 2014 were:
Atlético: Courtois, Juanfran, Godín, Miranda, Filipe Luís, Mario Suárez (Sosa 79), Koke, Gabi, Raúl García (Villa 86), Diego (Arda Turan 60), Costa.
Chelsea: Čech (Schwarzer 18), Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry (Schürrle 73), Cole, David Luiz, Ramires, Mikel, Willian (Ba 90+4), Lampard, Torres.

• The following week at Stamford Bridge, José Mourinho's Chelsea looked on course for the final when former – and now current – Atlético striker Fernando Torres gave them a 36th-minute lead. However, Adrián López levelled a minute before half-time, then Diego Costa (60pen), who actually joined Chelsea three months later, and Arda Turan (72) gave the visitors victory.

• These sides also met in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup when Radamel Falcao's first-half hat-trick gave Atlético a 4-1 success in Monaco and their second triumph in the competition in three years. Gary Cahill got Chelsea's consolation after Miranda had made it 4-0 on the hour.

• The line-ups at the Stade Louis II on 31 August 2012 were:
Atlético: Courtois, Juanfran, Godín, Miranda, Filipe Luís, Mario Suárez, Gabi, Koke (García 81), Adrián López (Rodríguez 56), Arda Turan, Falcao (Emre Belözoğlu 87).
Chelsea: Čech, Ivanović, David Luiz, Cahill, Cole (Bertrand 69), Ramires (Oscar 46), Lampard, Mikel, Mata (Sturridge 81), Hazard, Torres.

• The teams' only other meetings came in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League group stage when Chelsea collected four points from their Spanish rivals to finish top of Group D. Atlético came third and transferred to the maiden edition of the UEFA Europa League, which they eventually won.

• Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea prevailed 4-0 at Stamford Bridge, Salomon Kalou scoring twice (41, 52) before Frank Lampard (69) added another and Luis Perea (90+1) headed a Florent Malouda free-kick into his own net. The defeat prompted the departure of Atlético coach Abel Resino, with Quique Sánchez Flores taking over.

• The game in Spain two weeks later ended 2-2, confirming Chelsea's knockout place and ending Atlético's hopes. Substitute Sergio Agüero (66, 90+1) earned a point despite Didier Drogba's double (82, 88).

Match background

Atlético
• Diego Simeone's side got the better of English opposition last term, beating Leicester City FC 1-0 at home and 2-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

• That extended Atlético's unbeaten home record against English opposition to six wins and five draws. However, the victory against Leicester was just their second in their last six matches against English visitors.

• Simeone's charges are undefeated in their last six games against Premier League clubs, home and away.

• Atlético won 30 of their last 36 European fixtures at the Vicente Calderón, losing only twice. They are 11 matches unbeaten at home in Europe (W9 D2); last term they won five of their six home games.

Chelsea
• Champions of England for a sixth time in 2016/17, Chelsea's last three meetings against Spanish teams have come against Atlético.

• Chelsea have drawn on their last five visits to Spain and are unbeaten in their nine most recent trips (W2 D7), since a 1-0 group stage loss at Real Betis Balompié on 1 November 2005.

• That 2012 UEFA Super Cup defeat by Atlético ended Chelsea's 15-match unbeaten run against Spanish opponents (W6 D9). Their last reverse prior to that was a 2-1 home loss to FC Barcelona in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League round of 16.

• The Londoners' overall record away to Spanish clubs is W3 D7 L5.

• European champions in 2012, Chelsea got to the round of 16 on their last UEFA Champions League appearance in 2015/16, losing to Paris Saint-Germain at that stage for the second year running.

• Chelsea were not involved in European competition last term, for the first time since 1996/97. They had appeared in every UEFA Champions League group stage going back to 2003/04.

• The Stamford Bridge outfit have won their UEFA Champions League group on their last three appearances, and 11 times overall. The only time they have failed to progress to the last 16 was 2012/13, when they became the first holders to go out in the group phase; even so, they went on to win the UEFA Europa League.

Coach and player links
• Simeone faced England four times during his international playing career with Argentina (W1 D2 L1).

• Simeone has never lost to English opposition as coach (W3 D2).

• The Atlético boss was in the FC Internazionale Milano side that lost to Manchester United FC in the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, going down 2-0 away before a 1-1 home draw. His overall record as a player against English clubs was W2 D3 L2.

• Thibaut Courtois was loaned to Atlético by Chelsea between 2011 and 2014, making 111 league outings. He was part of the Atleti team that won the UEFA Europa League in 2012, the Copa del Rey the following season and the Spanish Liga in 2013/14, when Atlético also reached the UEFA Champions League final.

• Fernando Torres scored 20 goals in 110 Premier League games for Chelsea between 2011 and 2014, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2011/12 – when he netted in the semi-final second leg at Barcelona.

• Filipe Luís made 15 outings for Chelsea in 2014/15.

• Stefan Savić made 11 appearances during his time in England with Manchester City, but never faced Chelsea.

• Pedro notched 58 goals in 204 league matches for Barcelona between 2008 and 2015, with a record of W10 D4 L2 against Atlético.

• Cesc Fàbregas faced Atlético nine times during his Barcelona career (W3 D5 L1), and got 28 goals in 96 Liga games for Barça between 2012 and 2014.

• Álvaro Morata never scored against Atlético for Real Madrid (W3 L3) but managed 25 goals in 63 league fixtures for the Merengues from 2010 to 2014 and in 2016/17.

• César Azpilicueta took on Atlético five times with CA Osasuna (W3 D1 L1), making 99 league appearances in Spain.

• Willy Caballero mustered one win in six attempts against Atlético with Málaga CF (D3 L2), making 117 Liga appearances for the club in all.

• International team-mates:
Juanfran, Koke, Saúl Ñíguez, Fernando Torres & César Azpilicueta, Cesc Fàbregas, Álvaro Morata, Pedro (Spain)
Filipe Luís & David Luiz, Willian (Brazil)
Antoine Griezmann, Kevin Gameiro & N'Golo Kante, Tiemoué Bakayoko (France)
Yannick Carrasco & Thibaut Courtois, Michy Batshuayi, Eden Hazard (Belgium)

Match facts

Atlético
• Including their final four fixtures of last season, Atlético are 11 matches unbeaten in all competitions.

• Griezmann scored the first-ever goal at the Estadio Metropolitano as Atlético defeated Málaga 1-0 on 16 September.

• The Rojiblancos have conceded only one goal in their last five games following Saturday's 2-0 success against Sevilla FC.

Chelsea
• Chelsea are seven games unbeaten, winning six of them, since the 3-2 loss to Burnley FC on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

• Batshuayi has four goals in his last two appearances for the Blues, most recently scoring a hat-trick as Nottingham Forest FC were beaten 5-1 at Stamford Bridge in the English League Cup third round on 20 September.

• Making his full debut for the west Londoners, Charly Musonda registered his first goal for Chelsea in the cup tie. Hazard made his first club start of the campaign in the same game, while Caballero was handed his Blues debut.

• Morata scored his first Chelsea hat-trick in Saturday's 4-0 win at Stoke City FC; he has scored eight goals in his last six outings for club and country.