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Chelsea and Real Madrid will face each other in the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, April 28. The two teams are vying for a spot in the Champions League Final, where they will face either Manchester City or Paris Saint Germain. Real Madrid will host the first leg before travelling to London a week later.
Both Chelsea and Real Madrid will be looking to advance to the Final of the very competition they tried to undermine. The two former Super League sides will face each other in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League semi-final, with the first leg taking place at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano in Madrid.
Despite switching head coaches mid-season, Chelsea have had a fairly comfortable run till the Champions League semis. The Blues were drawn into the group alongside Sevilla, Krasnodar, and Stade Rennais and qualified as the group winners with ease. The Blues were coached then by Frank Lampard, who navigated the earlier stage of the competition with ease. Lampard was sacked by Chelsea before the knockout stage and replaced by last year’s finalist Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel was in the dugout when the Blues took on Atletico Madrid in the round-of-16. The German tactician masterminded his side’s 3-0 aggregate win over the Rojiblancos, setting up a quarter-final clash against giant-killers FC Porto. Once again, the English outfit beat their opponents comfortably in the first leg by a scoreline of 2-0. Porto did win the second leg 1-0 but their goal came too late into the tie to have any real significance.
Real Madrid were dealt a difficult hand in the group stage, as they were drawn alongside Inter Milan, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Shakhtar Donetsk. However, Los Blancos were able to qualify as the group winners with 10 points and set up a round-of-16 clash against Atalanta.
A 1-0 win in the first leg, followed by a 3-1 victory in the second resulted in Real Madrid’s qualification to the last eight stage. There they were drawn against Liverpool, who they had beaten in the 2018 Champions League Final. Zinedine Zidane’s side was victorious once more, as they defeated Liverpool 3-1 on aggregate.
Navigating through the various stages of the tournament, Chelsea and Real Madrid are faced with each other. This will be just the fourth time in history when the two sides play against each other, with Chelsea winning two out of the previous three matches. The other one ended in a draw.
Key Players
Karim Benzema
The Frenchman once spearheaded the infamous ‘BBC’ frontline, which was crucial in Real Madrid’s Champions League treble. Only Benzema remains at the club, with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale now playing their football elsewhere. Nevertheless, the striker has taken on much of the scoring responsibility once shared between the trio. He has scored 27 times this season, including five goals in eight UCL matches.
Toni Kroos
It took Toni Kroos just 36 minutes to show his class against Liverpool. Those who questioned whether the German could still do it at the top level were left in awe, as he single-handedly broke down the Reds defence with incredible passes. Kroos sat out Real Madrid’s last three matches, although he is expected to return to the starting eleven against Chelsea.
Mason Mount
The Englishman became the poster boy for Chelsea during Lampard’s reign. However, he needed just one match to shed the unfair tag of him being the teacher’s pet once Tuchel took over. Mount has been Chelsea’s best player both under Lampard and Tuchel. He contributes with his creativity in attack, while his energy is a key asset to the team when they lose the ball.
Timo Werner
The German striker arrived at Chelsea with huge expectations last summer but has split fan opinion since. Many consider his first season at Stamford Bridge to be a failure. However, the fact remains that he is Chelsea’s biggest goal contributor this season, with 20 contributions to his name. Werner scored on the weekend in a narrow 1-0 win over West Ham, and his teammates will hope that he can do the same against a weakened Real Madrid defence.
Prediction
Both Chelsea and Real Madrid are among the most successful clubs in Europe in the twenty-first century. A fact which confirms that is the number of times both teams have appeared in the Champions League semi-final. Chelsea will become the English club with the most appearances in the semis (8) when they take on Real Madrid. Los Blancos, on the other hand, are the most successful club ever in the same category, with 14 appearances to their name.
Despite their regular semi-final appearances, the two teams have rarely met at a European stage. Chelsea are unbeaten competitively against Real Madrid, with the Spanish giants yet to beat the Blues after three matches. Tuchel’s side could make it four matches unbeaten against Real if they win again on Tuesday night. Their newfound robustness could help them do the same, while the fact that Real Madrid are missing some key players should help too.
