Chelsea and Real Madrid will meet again in the Champions League, this time in the quarter-finals after meeting in the semi-finals last season, with the first leg taking place on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge.
Real Madrid will be looking for vengeance after Chelsea’s 3-1 aggregate victory last season, in which the two clubs drew 1-1 in Spain before the Blues won 2-0 in London, while Thomas Tuchel’s side will be looking to bounce back after their Premier League 4-1 home defeat to Brentford on Saturday.
Tuchel has practically his whole first-team squad available, with the exception of Ben Chilwell, who is out for the rest of the season with a long-term injury, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who is dealing with a back condition.
After undergoing a fibular plate operation, Real Madrid striker Eden Hazard will be unable to play against his former club, while Luka Jovic is a doubt owing to an ankle ailment.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti previously tested positive for COVID-19, but has tested negative this morning and will be on the bench, though he was not last weekend during Los Blancos’ 2-1 win over Celta Vigo. Instead, Davide Ancelotti, his son and aide, is likely to be in control.
Chelsea vs Real Madrid predicted line-ups
Chelsea’s predicted line-up (3-4-3): Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Reece James, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso; Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic.
Real Madrid’s predicted line-up (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric; Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Chelsea vs Real Madrid match time
Today’s match between Chelsea and Real Madrid kicks off at 20:00 GMT, the local time in the UK. For those living in the USA, you can tune in at 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT.
Where to watch Chelsea vs Real Madrid
For those living in the USA, you can watch the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Chelsea and Real Madrid on CBS Sports Network. For those living in the UK the match will be broadcast live on BT Sport 2.
Prediction
With Chelsea’s current form, which isn’t great – they lost 4-1 at home to Brentford in the English Premier League over the weekend. They aren’t in the best of shape right now.
Real Madrid, who won 2-1 over Celta Vigo without their boss Ancelotti last weekend, aren’t looking that convincing either. They were defeated 4-0 by Barcelona in the El Clasico two weeks ago, revealing their flaws.
So, here at FUTBALLNEWS, we’re going with a 1-1 tie as the final score.
