Chelsea club captain Cesar Azpilicueta. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel has provided the latest injury updates on Cesar Azpilicueta and Romelu Lukaku as Chelsea gear up to take on Real Madrid later today. The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals will take place at Santiago Bernabeu, where the English side will look to push for a comeback after the 3-1 defeat in the first leg.
The Blues will need to deal with several injury concerns with Lukaku ruled out after suffering some pain in his Achilles in the build-up to the match. Fortunately, Azpilicueta, who tested positive for Covid-19 beforehand, has returned multiple negative results, which means that he would travel with the team to Madrid.
“Romelu will not travel due to his pain in the Achilles that he has felt recently but Azpi is in the group. He has tested negative several times now and is okay to be part of the squad.”
Ross Barkley will be another absentee as he will be out of contention with an illness ahead of the clash against Real. He has been cast aside by the German boss for quite some time, so his absence would not affect the team anyway. Tuchel has issued an update on the midfielder in his pre-match presser (h/t Chelsea official website).
“Ross Barkley is sick, however, and will not travel with us later.”
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell have been out for quite some time, and they will not make it into the matchday squad against the Spanish club. The winger has suffered problems with his Achilles, while the left wing-back has already been ruled out for the remainder of this season.
“Callum Hudson-Odoi is still out and Ben Chilwell is of course out for a long time.”
Despite the 48-year-old coach not being confident about our chances of going through to the next round, we remain hopeful that the players can turn things around in the second leg. We were far from our best in the first leg, and the match was much closer than the scoreline indicates.
After all, the mistake from Eduoard Mendy and Antonio Rudiger coupled with Lukaku’s terrible miss has put us in this position. If we can find our feet by replicating the form we showcased in Southampton’s 6-0 riot, there is no reason to think that a comeback is out of the options.
Lukaku’s absence is a blow despite his struggles since joining us at the start of this campaign. Timo Werner must take this opportunity and make an impact just like he did against the Saints recently. Azpilicueta’s availability would be a massive boost for us, although it would be better to use him as a centre-back rather than a left wing-back like last time.
Reece James would be the obvious starter in the right wing-back position, while Marcos Alonso could be given the nod on the opposite side. Our skipper struggled in the first leg, so it is better to utilise him in a role that suits his strengths- but only the official lineup later today will confirm who starts where in our defence.
An early goal will be important today and those who get it should fancy their chances of going through. Madrid aren’t invincible and the Blues have shown time and again they are capable of taking on the best teams in the world head-on.
The injury concerns won’t make things easy for us, but luckily for us, Real Madrid have a few selection issues to worry about as well.
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