Drogba sends Blues through

Didier Drogba marked his return to the Champions League with two goals to send Chelsea into the last 16 after a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid.

Drogba netted two late goals to cancel out Sergio Aguero's brilliant volleyed opener, but Chelsea target Aguero denied him a winning return to European action with last-gasp equaliser.

Blues hit-man Drogba, who missed the first three games of Group D through suspension, popped up with two goals in the last eight minutes to turn the game in Chelsea' favour after Aguero's opener, but Aguero had the final word as his sublime free-kick earned Atletico a draw.

The draw was good enough to send Chelsea through to the knockout stages with two games to spare.

It was not a comfortable night for the Premier League leaders, but they will be happy with the result and will now be able to focus their efforts on this weekend's mouth-watering showdown with Manchester United.

Chances were at a premium in the first half, which may not have been so surprising for Atletico considering they had not scored in three Group D games while Chelsea were the only team yet to concede a goal in this phase of the competition.

It was perhaps more unexpected that Chelsea found opportunities difficult to come by as not only were they facing the leakiest defence in the Primera Division this season, but Carlo Ancelotti's men had scored 17 goals in their previous four matches.

The Blues also welcomed back Drogba into their European line-up after completing his three-game suspension, and he had an early sight of goal following a terrible defensive mistake but pulled his shot wide of the far post.

That opportunity aside, it was mainly Atletico who looked the more likely scorers early on with Juanito and Diego Forlan not too far away, while former Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes brought a diving one-handed save out of Petr Cech with a curling shot from outside the area.

That was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock before the break, although Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard had efforts that might have briefly concerned Sergio Asenjo in the home goal before both went wide.

Woodwork

Chelsea may not have been much of a threat in front of goal before the break, but they came within a whisker of taking the lead just five minutes after the restart when Drogba struck the woodwork.

The Ivory Coast international was fouled in a dangerous position 25 yards out, and from the resulting free-kick the prolific hitman fired in a shot that Asenjo did well to turn onto his right-hand post.

Soon after that, Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores made the first change of the match, sending on highly-rated striker and one-time Chelsea target Aguero for ex-Liverpool man Florent Sinama Pongolle.

Aguero's first involvement in the game saw him go crashing inside the area, but the referee ignored the screams of the Atletico fans to award a penalty and waved play on.

Petr Cech had just minutes previously saved a Reyes free-kick low down by his post, but he could do nothing about the strike that put Atletico ahead in the 66th minute. An Antonio Lopez cross from the left fell kindly to the unmarked Aguero after flicking off the head of John Terry, and the Argentinian slammed an unstoppable volley into the far top corner of the net as Chelsea's defence was finally breached in Europe.

That looked like earning Atletico their first win, but Drogba turned the game on its head with two goals in six minutes.

Equaliser

He drew Chelsea level in the 82nd minute when he rose highest to head home Florent Malouda's cross from the left, and then looked to have clinched a stunning comeback victory as he latched onto Ashley Cole's through-ball and slotted home at the second attempt after Asenjo had saved his initial effort.

That was in the 88th minute, but there was still a late twist as Atletico netted an injury-time equaliser when Aguero curled home a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards out to seal a draw for the hosts.

Atlético de Madrid	Team Statistics	Chelsea
2	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	0
5	Shots on Target	4
11	Shots off Target	7
1	Blocked Shots	2
6	Corners	4
12	Fouls	20
2	Offsides	4
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
83	Passing Success	82
18	Tackles	25
72.2	Tackles Success	68
51.8	Possession	48.2
55.8	Territorial Advantage	44.2