Chelsea hold a slight advantage over Atletico Madrid in their Champions League semi-final tie having held the Spanish outfit to a goalless draw in the first leg at the Vicente Calderon this evening.
Both sides struggled to create any clear chances in the opening 75 minutes of the game, before Atletico started to push for a winner in the closing stages.
They couldn't find a breakthrough, however, as Chelsea held on to take a draw back to Stamford Bridge for next week's second leg.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at an intriguing match in the Spanish capital.
Match statistics
Atletico
Shots: 25
On target: 4
Possession: 69%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 13
Chelsea
Shots: 5
On target: 2
Possession: 31%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 16
Was the result fair?
The statistics suggest that this was by no means a fair result, with Atletico dominating the shots and possession count. However, Chelsea's gameplan was never to come and control the ball and pepper the home goal with shots, but rather to contain their opponents.
They did that well and defended admirably, preventing the hosts from playing their usual game for large periods of the match. The home side looked more likely to score and were certainly asking more questions in an attacking sense, but they couldn't break Chelsea down.
Atletico had enough sightings of goal to think that they should have won this match, but they weren't able to create any really good openings and Chelsea will feel that they played the game to perfection. In the end, a draw was a fair result.
Atletico's performance
They controlled possession and dictated the tempo of the match for large periods, but there was a lack of cutting edge to their attacks as they failed to get past Chelsea's disciplined defending. The middle of the park was often packed, meaning that the likes of Diego Costa, Raul Garcia and Koke had very little room to manoeuvre.
That meant that they were forced into a lot of crosses into the box, an avenue that only started to yield a bit of success when John Terry was forced off through injury. Credit does have to go to Chelsea for the way they contained Atletico, but the Spanish side will need to be more imaginative at Stamford Bridge.
A 0-0 draw is not the worst result they could have come away with, but they will know exactly how hard it is to win at Stamford Bridge. Still, an away goal would now leave Chelsea needing two and, with the Blues likely to attack more next week, Atletico could revert to their own preferred style of hitting teams on the counter.
Chelsea's performance
Jose Mourinho revels in preventing big teams from playing, and he did exactly that this evening. Even before the match it was evident that his number one priority was a clean sheet this afternoon, with a defensive midfield named and one that he knew would work to protect the back four.
In an attacking sense, there is very little to talk about for Chelsea. Fernando Torres was isolated all game up front, with the likes of Ramires and Willian more focused on their defensive duties. For a lot of the time, Chelsea had 10 men behind the ball, and Torres couldn't keep it long enough to receive support whenever he did get a touch.
It is now advantage Chelsea in the tie, but they too need to make some improvements in the second leg. They should be more attacking, which will be a start, but Mourinho could be without Petr Cech and John Terry, who both went off through injury tonight, while Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel also picked up yellow cards that see them suspended.
All in all, it was a good job well done for Chelsea tonight. They carried out Mourinho's game plan to perfection and will now be confident of reaching the final by beating Atletico at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Gary Cahill: Chelsea defended very well as a unit today, so almost any one of them could have been named man of the match. However, Gary Cahill gets the nod for the amount of times he was there to stop Diego Costa getting any sort of momentum.
He and Terry made plenty of clearances from inside the box, and Cahill continued to hold the fort when the pressure was really on in the closing 15 minutes with Terry off the pitch. Costa was touted as a big threat tonight, but Cahill played an integral role in nullifying that.
Biggest gaffe
It was a relatively gaffe-free game tonight, but David Luiz may feel a little guilty for his role in Petr Cech's injury. The Brazilian appeared to nudge Raul Garcia into the keeper, causing him to land awkwardly and damage his shoulder to such an extent that he was unable to continue.
Luiz also played a minor and unwitting role in the injury to Terry, who seemed to slightly trip over the foot of his teammate before twisting his ankle.
Referee performance
Jonas Eriksson had a solid match tonight. He was not that consistent at times, being lenient on occasions and strict elsewhere, but that is only a minor criticism of a pretty straightforward night for the Swede.
What next?
Atletico: Atletico's title challenge rolls on as they face Valencia at the Mestalla on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea: The big games keep coming for Chelsea too as they travel to Anfield to take on league leaders Liverpool in a match they simply must win if they are to stay in the title race.
Barney Corkhill
