Chelsea’s veteran centre-back Thiago Silva will miss the London club’s Champions League clash with La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid. The 36-year-old is still suffering from a muscular injury that he picked up in the Blues’ 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.
However, the Blues will not be travelling to Madrid to face Diego Simeone’s side. Instead, they will be heading for Romania’s capital Bucharest, with the impact of the pandemic forcing the game to be played at a neutral venue.
Thiago Silva to Miss Out on Champions League Clash Against Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid Clash Still Too Soon for Thiago Silva
Thomas Tuchel had hoped that the Brazilian would have been back for the Southampton game at the weekend, but it remains too soon.
Whilst it is still unclear when Chelsea expect the 36-year-old to return to first-team football, the West London side have a plethora of defensive options in his absence, all with something to prove.
Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azipilicueta have emerged as regular first-team starters under Tuchel, with Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma seeing less football at present.
Other Chelsea Injury Concerns
It also appears that Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic will travel to Bucharest with the rest of the squad to face Atletico Madrid midweek, with Tuchel getting ever-closer to having a full squad at his disposal.
It seems that the Chelsea boss is excited to welcome back the aforementioned duo back into the team and spoke about the hunger of his side in his pre-match press conference. Speaking to reporters, as cited by Football.London, he said: “Very happy that both of them are in the group. They trained with us, no complaints, and they travel with us.
“We are well equipped in our squad. I love what I feel, love what I see. The hunger to compete, a strong bond, a strong club.”
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