BUCHAREST • Olivier Giroud's contract expires in June but there will be no shortage of suitors should an extension not be agreed with Chelsea.

The evergreen striker turns 35 in September but he remains one of the first names on France coach Didier Deschamps' team sheet and is set to lead the line for Les Bleus at the upcoming Euro 2020.

Giroud has consistently proven he is the man for big moments over the years and it was no different on Tuesday.

He scored the only goal of the game with a spectacular overhead kick in the 68th minute as Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

As the game was held in Romania due to Covid-19 travel restrictions between Spain and Britain, this was a "home" game only in name, with the hosts suffering just their second "home" defeat in 30 European games.

Chelsea were the last side to inflict a loss in 2017-18 and like that group-stage game, they were good value for the win as the La Liga leaders were deprived of both space and the ball.

Giroud's strike - his 15th in 16 starts in Europe for the Blues - was originally ruled out for offside, but was eventually given when the video assistant referee showed the ball had come to him off Atletico defender Mario Hermoso.

With just seven starts in the Premier League, the veteran has been used sparingly this term but his sixth goal, a career-best return, in this year's Champions League shows he is still at the top of his game.

Hailing Giroud, who is the oldest player to score in the knockout stage for Chelsea, his manager Thomas Tuchel said: "He trains like a 20-year-old.

"He is a guy who has a good mixture of serious and joy in training. He is always positive and it is a big factor for the group.

"He enjoys every day being a professional soccer player on this level and this is the level he needs to be."

This was the 14th time Chelsea have won the first leg of a European knockout away tie and having progressed on each of the past 13 occasions, the German is confident of finishing the job at Stamford Bridge next month.

"We never let them breathe or come out for counter-attacks," said Tuchel, who passed his biggest test yet and has led his side to six wins in eight games in all competitions since replacing Frank Lampard last month.

"We wanted to dominate in the opponents' half... It was a very disciplined performance, a deserved shutout."

For Atletico, whose three-point lead at the top of La Liga is also under threat after one win in four matches, their dip in form is increasingly looking like a slump, but manager Diego Simeone refused to write off his side's chances of progression to the last eight.

"If you'd said to me in September we'd lose this first leg 1-0 and be top of the league, I'd have signed for that for sure," said the Argentinian. "The results aren't going for us so we have to work, work, work and work."

REUTERS