The Champions League will be a welcome distraction for Chelsea after a blip in the Premier League.
Chelsea have dropped points in their last two league fixtures, drawing 0-0 with Bournemouth and losing 3-1 to Leeds United.
They will now be hoping that they can beat Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday to avoid going on a winless run of three games.
Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez has been appointed to referee the match, and the last time he was in charge of a Chelsea fixture, it is fair to say that things did not go according to plan for the Blues.
Legia Warszawa's Tomas Pekhart and Chelsea's Reece James
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez refereed Chelsea’s loss to Legia Warszawa last season
On their way to winning the Conference League last season, Chelsea lost only two games, including qualifiers.
One of those matches was a 2-1 defeat to Polish side Legia Warszawa in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Thankfully, Enzo Maresca’s side got the job done in the first leg, winning 3-0 in Poland. It was the loss at Stamford Bridge, though, that Hernandez Hernandez refereed.
It is the only Chelsea game that the Spaniard has officiated, so there is no sample size to analyse.
Hopefully that loss against Legia Warszawa under Hernandez Hernandez’s watch was just a one-off and Chelsea win on Wednesday.
Referee Alejandro Hernandez blows his whistle
Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Atalanta’s danger men ahead of Chelsea tie
To claim victory over Atalanta, Chelsea are going to have to neutralise the threat of former Premier League star Ademola Lookman.
He is Atalanta’s most dangerous attacker, scoring 20 goals across all competitions last season.
In the 2023/24 campaign, the 28-year-old helped Atalanta to win the Europa League after scoring a hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen in the final.
Gianluca Scamacca’s spell in the Premier League with West Ham United was far from a success, but Chelsea will also have to watch out for the striker. He scored in Atalanta’s 3-1 defeat to Verona on Saturday.
Bournemouth dealt with Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro well, but they could be Chelsea’s danger men at the New Balance Arena.
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