Tonight, English Club Chelsea FC will face Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the quarterfinal. For the English side, it will be difficult to defeat Real Madrid at their home stadium. Real Madrid won the first leg by a 3-1 margin at Stamford Bridge. So, Chelsea have to win with a minimum of two goals margin tonight to eliminate the home team.
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After losing the first leg against Real Madrid, Chelsea FC have come back strongly in the English Premier League. They smashed Southampton FC by scoring six goals. That result has sent a strong signal to the La Liga table topper that the second leg will not be easy. On the other hand, Real Madrid have also won a match after the first leg. They beat Getafe FC by 2-0.
However, Real Madrid have a proven track record of reaching the next round whenever they have won the first leg. After winning the first leg, they have advanced to the next round in nine of their previous ten ties. Only Ajax have eliminated them in the 2018-19 season by winning the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu.
Team News
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti rested Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Dani Carvajal in the match against Getafe. So, the trio will be seen tonight at Santiago Bernabeu. However, Eden Hazard is still out of the squad due to injury. Moreover, Isco and Luka Jovic will also miss the match for the same reason. Meanwhile, Militao will miss the game because of the suspension.
On Chelsea’s side, Romelu Lukaku, like in the first leg, will not be available for Chelsea. However, the Blues’ captain Cesar Azpilicueta is back in the squad. Chelsea boss will also get Kai Havartz and Timo Warner in this match.
Tuchel’s Thoughts
Thomas Tuchel, manager of Chelsea, has had his say ahead of the Madrid clash. He said,
It is one of the biggest challenges to perform away at the Bernabeu. It is even more difficult if you have to earn a certain result, if you need to win with a minimum of two goals or better or maybe a three-goal difference, that makes it almost impossible and very, very difficult but still it is worth trying. It is a stage where you can overperform. We need to overperform. It is not easy but at the same time, it is a big experience to learn from and maybe experience to take and overperform.