Chelsea have announced that they will head to Bergamo without Ballon d’Or nominee Cole Palmer, whose playing time is being carefully regulated after his recent comeback from injury, according to Yahoo Sports.
Atalanta will welcome Chelsea to the New Balance Arena on Tuesday evening for the sixth round of Champions League games — the final set of UCL fixtures for this calendar year.
Atalanta and Chelsea go into the match level on points, each recording three wins, one draw, and one defeat for a total of 10 points. Chelsea currently sit seventh, with Sporting CP and Manchester City positioned between them and La Dea on the standings.
Making Tuesday night’s challenge slightly lighter for Raffaele Palladino and his Atalanta side is the absence of Palmer from Enzo Maresca’s squad.
The England international, who placed eighth in this year’s Ballon d’Or rankings, only recently recovered from a groin problem that sidelined him for nearly two months from late September to late November.
With his workload being controlled, the club has confirmed he did not travel and will not feature against Atalanta. He has appeared in Chelsea’s past two Premier League fixtures, and reports suggest he is still expected to be available for the upcoming league match against Everton this weekend.
