Atletico draw costs Chelsea top spot

The two sides went into the game needing wins for very different reasons, with Chelsea looking to secure top spot and Atletico looking to leapfrog Roma into second and prolong their Champions League campaign into 2018.

The game started sloppily, with both sides giving away possession under little or no pressure.

Fernando Torres had the first real effort of the game on his return to Stamford Bridge, only for his effort to be deflected harmlessly over the bar.

Keen to show that Chelsea’s current Spanish striker is just as good as previous incarnations Alvaro Morata went close to giving Chelsea the lead, curling narrowly wide from the edge of the box following a beautiful dummy from Eden Hazard.

Morata carried the bulk of Chelsea’s goal threat all game and went close again after 23 minutes as he turned Victor Moses’ low cross goalwards from 10 yards but Jan Oblak in the visiting goal got down to make the save.

Atletico enjoyed a good first half, controlling much of the play, but the hosts looked a real menace on the counter, particularly through Hazard.

Oblak was forced into action again with 37 minutes on the clock and he had to be at his very best to keep the scores level. Davide Zappacosta, deployed on the left for this game, cut in from the flank before firing low and true towards the near post from the edge of the box. The effort looked destined for the bottom corner but the big Slovenian did excellently to get down to his right and make the save.

That stop meant that the sides went into the break level, but it didn’t look like staying that way for long as the second half began at breakneck speed.

First, Antoine Griezmann stung the palms of Thibaut Courtois with a free kick, before Chelsea twice went close via the heads of Andreas Christensen and Morata respectively.

Atletico were quick to reply in kind though, with former Chelsea man Filipe Luis crashing a low effort from 20 yards off the base of the post, before Saul headed the rebound into the grateful arms of Courtois.

Saul made no mistake just minutes later though as he nodded the visitors in front. Torres climbed highest at the near post to flick on a corner form the right and Saul ghosted in at the far post to head home unmarked from six yards.

Their joy was short-lived though, as the news filtered through that Roma has take the lead against Qarabag in Rome, meaning that they had jumped above both Chelsea and Atletico and into top spot.

From that point on it was all-out attack from Chelsea as they looked to reclaim first place in the group.

Christensen headed wide form eight yards with the goal gaping after a quickly-taken corner on the left, before a combination of Gimenez and Oblak somehow prevented Morata from tapping home Pedro’s backheeled effort.

Eventually though, the pressure told and Chelsea drew level courtesy of an own-goal.

A corner was only cleared as far as Hazard on the edge of the box and he duly skipped past his man and fired goalwards, with the hapless Stefan Savic only able to guide the Belgian’s low effort into his own net.

Chelsea almost piled the misery on Atletico as they came close to scoring an immediate second. Cesc Fabregas raced away on the right and squared for Morata but Oblak was alert to race off his line and denied the striker with his feet.

The hosts had a great chance to find the winner they so desperately craved late on as more magic from Hazard saw him get to the byline down the left and pull the ball back for Willian but the Brazilian leant back and blazed his effort well over the bar from 12 yards.

Griezmann couldn't quite stretch enough to convert Luciano Vietto's low cross late on, before Michy Batshuayi flashed an effort wide in added time.

In the end though, both sides were left disappointed as the draw, combined with Roma's 1-0 win against Qarabag meant that the Italian side claimed top spot in the group, with Chelsea dropping to second. Atletico meanwhile, miss out on the last 16 altogether.