Chelsea are set to face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinal once again. The Champions League matchup between these two clubs will take place for the third time in the competition.
The Blues defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on aggregate to go to the quarterfinals, while Real overcame Premier League powerhouse Liverpool 6-2 on aggregate in the round of 16.
Before the second-leg match at Stamford Bridge, the two will first clash at the Santiago Bernabeu for the first leg. The winner of this match will face the winner of Manchester City’s match against Bayern Munich. The first leg will take place on Wednesday, April 12, and the return leg on Thursday, April 18.
This will be a very daunting encounter for the Blues, who have had a difficult start to the season, while Real’s easy victory over Liverpool demonstrates how strong they are in this competition.
Yet, Chelsea have a strong head-to-head record against the Spanish team, having beaten Real twice in the previous four meetings. The lone victory for Los Blancos came in last season’s 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge in the first leg.
While the Blues defeated them in second-leg at Bernabeu 3-2, which didn’t prove to be enough as Real won the tie 5-4 on aggregate and went on to win the trophy.
The majority of the players, including Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, and primarily N’Golo Kante, will recover, thus Graham Potter will have access to half of the team. The French international dropped man-of-the-match performances in both the leg of in 2020-21 Champions League semi-final.
Nonetheless, we have enough time to get prepared for the match, and who knows, before the clash, we could embark on an unbeaten streak, which would boost our morale before taking on Real. And Chelsea have made significant improvements so far, and the players are finally showing their character in the matches.
And if Potter discovers a method, there are many ways we can reap the benefits of Madrid. Mainly their midfield which is the reason they are able to play free-flowing football, but it is ageing in comparison to our young midfield, and if we can keep them subdued, they will hardly be able to play fluid game.
Nonetheless, it would be premature to comment on this match because Real Madrid usually finds a way to prevail, and we will have to be prepared and do our utmost against them.
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