Opponent Watch: Real Madrid handed major injury boost ahead of Chelsea UCL semi-final clash

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos set to return for Chelsea clash

According to Sky Sports, Real Madrid have been handed a major boost ahead of their clash against Chelsea next week as captain and star defender Sergio Ramos is set to return from injury.

Chelsea will welcome Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge next week for the second-leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final clash. The first leg, played in Spain earlier this week, ended in a 1-1 draw after Karim Benzema cancelled out Christian Pulisic’s goal.

Heading into the second leg, the away goal does give us a bit of an advantage. However, Real Madrid are set to be bolstered by the return of their key player and talisman Sergio Ramos for the trip to the Bridge.

The veteran defender has been sidelined for quite a while now due to injury as well as coronavirus. However, manager Zinedine Zidane confirmed on Friday that Ramos has been back training with the team. (h/t Sky Sports)

“He [Ramos] is training with us and that means he’s able to play too. We’ll see what we do when we name the squad, but Sergio is fit and ready to play.”

Zidane, however, has opted to leave Ramos out of the squad for Real Madrid’s La Liga contest against CA Osasuna on Saturday, perhaps in order to keep him fresh for the trip to Stamford Bridge.

The semi-final tie between Chelsea and Real Madrid is very evenly poised. Ramos’ availability could, thus, be a game-changing one for Los Blancos given his talismanic nature and his leadership.

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However, the fact that Real Madrid have failed to win in four of their last five games in all competitions (W1 D4) is something that should fill Chelsea with confidence ahead of the next midweek encounter.