Chelsea will be vying to make their first Champions League final since 2012 when they travel to Spain to take on Real Madrid on Tuesday at 8:00pm (UK time).
The Blues have surprised a lot of people under Thomas Tuchel and made their first semi-final since 2015. They will now look to take down the 13-time European Champions managed by the legendary Zinedine Zidane in the semi-final first-leg in the Spanish capital.
Where to watch Real Madrid vs Chelsea:
- UK: BT
- US: Fubo
- Canada: DAZN
- Spain: Movistar+
DAZN are streaming Real Madrid v Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final live for account holders. Those without a DAZN account already can take advantage of their 30-day free trial* by signing up through this link.
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Scoreline prediction: Real Madrid 0-0 Chelsea
Both sides are solid defences who rely on opponents playing themselves into errors. As a result this first-leg is likely to be a cagey affair short on chances as Madrid want to avoid giving up an away goal and the Blues want to ensure they don’t get blown out like Liverpool did.
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Real Madrid vs Chelsea build-up, previous line-ups & injury news:
Real Madrid enter this match in middling form, drawing three of their previous four matches 0-0. This came off the back of an impressive six-match winning run which culminated in back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Barcelona.
However, after El Clásico, they appear to have hit something of a roadblock. The second-leg draw with Liverpool seemed fine but dropped points against beatable opponents has seen them surrender the advantage in La Liga’s title race rather meekly.
Conversely, Chelsea approach the semi-final in rude footballing health. Barring a shock loss to West Brom, the Blues have not suffered a defeat of consequence under Tuchel and have been a defensive powerhouse and clean sheet machine.
They shut out Manchester City in an FA Cup semi-final and then ground their way by West Ham at the weekend. They are a formidable defensive outfit and will look to do to Real Madrid what Los Blancos did to other teams, most notably Liverpool and Barcelona.
In the end, this could be a tie where two teams are desperate for the other to have the ball so they can have something to counter against, and it could be about which team gets suckered into having the ball and trying to play.
- Real Madrid (vs Real Betis): Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Varane, Nacho, Casemiro, Modric, Isco, Rodrygo, Asensio, Benzema.
- Chelsea (vs West Ham): Mendy, Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Kanté, Jorginho, Chilwell, Mount, Pulisic, Werner.
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Real Madrid vs Chelsea predicted XIs:
While Sergio Ramos, Fede Valverde and Lucas Vázquez are all out of the tie; Real Madrid will hope to welcome Toni Kroos, Vinicius Jr and maybe even Ferland Mendy back into the XI to play Chelsea. Expect Isco, Rodrygo and Nacho to drop out of the side that started against Real Betis, with the incoming trio expected to add a lot of bite to what has been a fairly toothless side of late.
The Madrid game plan, as always, will focus on their midfield’s ability to dominate the game and find the forwards with raking passes, as well as Karim Benzema’s searingly brilliant link play (the Frenchman is also the fourth-highest goalscorer in Champions League history).
Chelsea may look to sit deep to counter Vinicius Jr’s formidable pace but then Los Blancos can send for Eden Hazard off the bench. The former Chelsea man is fit again and ready to face his old side, motivated by the desire to prove his move to Spain was the right one.
Chelsea, meanwhile, come into this tie with only one major absentee in Mateo Kovacic. As such, you can expect Tuchel’s XI to remain largely unchanged. Reece James coming in for Andreas Christensen, with Cesar Azpilicueta returning to right centre-back would be the only major change. After finally scoring a goal at the weekend, Timo Werner should lead the line again.
Alongside Werner in attack, we could see Hakim Ziyech (who knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League with Ajax two years ago) or Kai Havertz come in for Christian Pulisic. Either way, the Blues will defend deep and play on the break. At least, they will try to against this cautious Madrid side which is still full of major match-winning mentality.
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