Marko Marin will continue to wait for his Chelsea debut having missed the start of the season with a hamstring injury.
John Terry missed the game with Newcastle due to a neck problem and although he should be in contention to feature on Friday night the Blues' captain may not be risked.
New signings Cesar Azpilicueta and Victor Moses will hope to make their debuts but may have to do so from the bench. The former could start at right-back as Ivanovic could move to the centre if Terry is rested.
Thibaut Courtois is free to play in goal for the Europa League holders thanks to a special agreement reached between the clubs.
Filipe Luis and Juanfran returned from injury to play in Monday's 4-0 thrashing of Athletic Bilbao and will start at full-back alongside the favoured central defensive pair of Miranda and Diego Godin.
The main question for Diego Simeone will be who plays alongside Gabi in midfield? Mario Suarez excelled in the Europa League final at the end of last season, but Tiago came on to score a wonderful fourth against Athletic the other night and could start against his old club.
Prediction
Both clubs will be looking to get their hands on some silverware early and Chelsea, having won the Champions League, will be favourites after an excellent start to the season, with Hazard and Torres striking an impressive partnership last time out.
Atletico come into the game off of a superb result and display themselves, so will certainly be out to prove their credentials as they bid to retain their Europa League title this season, with Simeone likely to be more than happy to go into this game as underdogs.
There are some outstanding attacking players on show in this one, with long-time Chelsea target Falcao standing out as one to watch. There should be plenty of goals and entertainment in a tight match in Monaco that could go all the way to extra-time.
LOL @ all the people who keep saying La Liga is 2 horse race. La Liga might be won by Barca or Real Madrid, but all the other teams could stomp top teams in other leagues. Wake up old EPL morons. The new recipe for success is Brazilian wingbacks, spanish/german/turkish technical midfield, and south american striker. If this doesn't make any sense, then I will translate. Basically 2 center backs of your choosing, 6-7 attacking midfielders, and 1-2 defensive holding midfielders. Currently the countries that are pumping these technical and athletic players out are... Germany, Spain, South America, Turkey in mass. Of coarse Belgium, Switzerland, Dutch, etc all produce.
Dumping in prayer crosses hoping someone isn't man marked is a thing of the past. Better to park the double decker bus like Chelsea vs Barca. Literally put everyone in the box and prevent all through-balls and long shots.
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LessBlues
38 weeks ago
+1
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LahmFANBayern00
38 weeks ago
+1
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LahmFANBayern00
38 weeks ago
+1
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truth1984orwell
38 weeks ago
+4
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See all 4 commentsBroad strokes after a SuperCup match....eh?
truth1984orwell@
I agree with you 100%*
truth1984orwell@
I agree with you in 100%
LOL @ all the people who keep saying La Liga is 2 horse race. La Liga might be won by Barca or Real Madrid, but all the other teams could stomp top teams in other leagues. Wake up old EPL morons. The new recipe for success is Brazilian wingbacks, spanish/german/turkish technical midfield, and south american striker. If this doesn't make any sense, then I will translate. Basically 2 center backs of your choosing, 6-7 attacking midfielders, and 1-2 defensive holding midfielders. Currently the countries that are pumping these technical and athletic players out are... Germany, Spain, South America, Turkey in mass. Of coarse Belgium, Switzerland, Dutch, etc all produce.
Dumping in prayer crosses hoping someone isn't man marked is a thing of the past. Better to park the double decker bus like Chelsea vs Barca. Literally put everyone in the box and prevent all through-balls and long shots.