Chelsea battle out goalless draw at frustrated Atletico

Atletico carried on attacking right until the end, with Chelsea content to soak up the pressure and play out time

Chelsea's Fernando Torres, left, was a lonely, isolated figure in attack, on his return to the Estadio Calderon after leaving for England in 2007.

Atletico Madrid were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw on Tuesday at home to Chelsea in a one-sided Champions League semi-final first leg.

Atletico enjoyed 69 per cent of possession but failed to break down a well-drilled Chelsea defence.

Cech, Terry injured

Chelsea played an ultra-defensive game - with just former Atletico idol Fernando Torres alone in attack - and managed to keep Atletico at bay despite injuries to John Terry and Petr Cech.

Chelsea were determined to prevent a repeat of the 4-1 hammering suffered against Atletico in the 2012 European Super Cup.

"Atletico wanted to win from start to finish. This is not a good result for us, but we are still in it. We knew they would not concede a goal easily, and we come away with a bad taste," Atletico captain Gabi said.

When asked about Chelsea's approach to the game, Gabi replied, with a shrug, "Every team plays as it considers appropriate. That is all there is to it."

Atletico right-back Juanfran said, "We are not happy with this. We wanted to win. They played a very defensive game. We knew we were not going to win easily today, by 3-0 or something like that. But I really think that we can go to London and win. We all believe we can do that."

Chelsea goalkeeper Cech went off in the 15th minute after dislocating his right shoulder keeping out a corner, and 41-year-old veteran Mark Schwartzer came on for him. The ageless Australian turned in a calm, competent display, though uninspired Atletico didn't really give him a difficult night.

"There not much to think about, but I'm always prepared and ready to play. It's a tough thing to do, but tonight I've tried to do my job when given the chance. We were right up for it, which you'd expect," Schwartzer said.

"Atletico Madrid have world class players, and we knew if we matched their determination, we'd give it a good go. It's very tough for the second leg, but we've got to take each game as it comes."

No threat

Chelsea went into the game without injured forwards Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto'o, and never threatened to snatch an away goal.

At the other end, Raul Garcia, Gabi and Arda Turan all went close for Atletico, who have not been in the semi-finals since 1974.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho - who is not a popular figure at the Calderon after his spell with neighbours Real – said, "We did well to frustrate Atletico today. Normally it is Atletico who frustrate the other team.”

Atletico's Gabi picked up another yellow card and will be suspended for the second leg, to be played April 30 in London, while Chelsea will be without midfielders Frank Lampard and Jon Obi Mikel - and almost certainly without Cech, too.