Chelsea vs Real Madrid Preview

Real Madrid will travel to London this Wednesday to face reigning European and World champions Chelsea in the first leg of the quarter-final of the Champions League.

Thomas Tuchel’s side come into this game on the back of a 1-4 loss to Thomas Frank’s Brentford in the Premier League.

In a shocking loss at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea took the lead through a thunderbolt from defender Antonio Rudiger. But the bees fought back in the second half thanks to a brace from Vitaly Janlet and other goals from Christian Eriksen and Yoane Wissa.

That result ended a six-game-winning run for the Blues. Despite that defeat, the London side remain one of the most dominant sides in England and the Champions League this season.

They have kept six clean sheets from their last ten games and have failed to score only once in their last 15 games in all competitions. At home, they have lost just once in 18 games in all competitions (W12, D5).

They qualified for this stage of the tournament by beating Lille 4-1 on aggregate. They defeated Real Madrid the last time the two teams met, with Thomas Tuchel’s team claiming a 3-1 win on aggregate on their way to the final which they won.

They will therefore come into this tie confident of getting a first-leg win ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid dusted off the disappointment of their El Clasico loss to Barcelona just before the international break last time out as they beat Alaves 2-1 to maintain their lead at the top of the La Liga table.

The visitors will look to avenge their semi-final defeat to Chelsea last year when they travel to London on Wednesday. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were sent packing out of the UCL by Thomas Tuchel’s side last year and will hope to end the London’s side defence of their title by picking up a huge win over their hosts.

Los Blancos stunned the world in the previous round when they produced a breath-taking turnaround against PSG to book their place in this round. As such, they will be in high spirits as they take on the reigning Champions League kings.

Ancelotti’s side have won their last three away games and have kept four clean sheets from their last five away games. They have scored 2+ goals in five of their last six games in all competitions and will fancy their chances of getting a couple of goals in this game.