Champions League: Chelsea vs Real Madrid
With a 1-1 result in Madrid, the Blues managed by Thomas Tuchel would only have to keep Madrid from scoring to get to the final.
Now, we all know how good Real Madrid is in this competition, they are easily the kings of the Champions League by a long mile.
The Spaniards have won four Champions League titles in the last 10 competitions and they have a lot of experience in their squad since most of their players were part of the winning squads over the last few years.
Overall, Real Madrid has had 58 injuries in the season and also 11 COVID positive tests. This is something that Tuchel should take advantage of since the Merengues are really hurt and tired.
Also, they are fighting hard in La Liga and Zidane does not have many opportunities to rest his players. Zidane is not going to be able to count on:
- Raphael Varane (Leg injury)
- Lucas Vazquez (Knee injury)
- Daniel Carvajal (Hamstring injury)
- Federico Valverde (waiting for one more negative COVID result which would decide if he can travel to England with the team)
All of these players are key for the Los Blancos boss’s rotation. Most of them are defenders which are an area that the Merengues are really hurting right now since Ferland Mendy and Sergio Ramos just came back from injuries.
Even though Madrid are suffering from many injuries at the moment, their experience is the only thing standing in their favor to beat Chelsea.
For the Blues, they have minor injuries to Mason Mount and Antonio Rudiger but Tuchel stated that they would be fit for selection. The only player that is at risk of missing the game is Mateo Kovacic who also missed the first leg but was well covered by N’golo Kante.
This should be an exciting game to watch where Chelsea should take advantage of playing at their home ground Stamford Bridge and reach their first Champions League final since 2011/2012.