Real Madrid vs Chelsea LIVE: Lineups and team news as N’Golo Kante starts in Champions League quarter-final

Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea have been 3-1 combination winners towards Zinédine Zidane’s Real Madrid in the 2020/21 semi-finals.

Goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount secured a 2-0 second-leg victory at Stamford Bridge after the primary leg in Spain had completed 1-1, Christian Pulisic’s 14th-minute opener for the guests was cancelled out by Karim Benzema quarter-hour later.

The Champions League semi-final draw was finished on the identical time as the quarter-finals so the groups already know who they’ll face subsequent in the event that they make it that far.

The winner of Real Madrid vs Chelsea will face Manchester City or Bayern Munich however that may most definitely be City after their 3-0 first leg win final night time.

AC Milan or Napoli might face an all-Italian semi-final after Inter Milan’s 2-0 win at Benfica.

It is precisely a yr since Chelsea visited the Bernabeu. It is 12 months since one of many nice shows of doomed heroics in their historical past. Same place, one other time. Real Madrid in the end illustrated why they’re Europe’s comeback kings however solely after a surprising fightback from Chelsea. They went 3-0 up in the Bernabeu. Now the architect of it, Thomas Tuchel, is gone, together with two of the scorers, Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner. The different one, Mason Mount, could possibly be gone this summer time.

But the variations prolong past the names and faces. After three targets in the Bernabeu, Chelsea have now gone three video games beneath three completely different managers with out scoring. It is a wierd kind of hat-trick, however one to sum up Chelsea’s season. The membership who’ve spent greater than anybody else in soccer had over two switch home windows now have 14 targets in their final 22 video games. Karim Benzema has six targets in April to Chelsea’s none, 19 since 30 December to their 12. A reunion 12 months on could not really feel a good contest.

At least, after spending some £600m in a exceptional recruitment drive, Chelsea can name upon the providers of a prolific scorer in the Spanish capital. Not Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose Clasico brace in Madrid final yr is as irrelevant as his Premier League and Bundesliga Golden Boots and profession whole of 304 targets after being omitted from their European squad, however a scorer in a Champions League last. Admittedly, Frank Lampard is a 44-year-old caretaker supervisor now, moderately than probably the most prolific midfielder of his technology. But after bringing in a number of gamers with a marked aversion to placing the ball in the web, Todd Boehly has lastly employed somebody who did so on a document 211 events for Chelsea.

The two sides met on the identical stage of final season’s competitors with Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid successful 5-4 on combination.

The Spanish facet received the primary leg 3-1 at Stamford Bridge with Karim Benzema scoring twice in the primary half earlier than Kai Havertz halved the Chelsea deficit 5 minutes earlier than the break. Benzema then accomplished his hat-trick in the primary minute of the second interval.

Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea got here again strongly on the Santiago Bernabéu due to targets from Mason Mount and Antonio Rudiger.

They levelled the tie earlier than Timo Werner gave the Blues the combination lead with quarter-hour left to play. Rodrygo’s Eightieth-minute reply compelled further time, the place Benzema netted a decisive strike in the 96th minute.

Real Madrid want to attain the Champions League semi-finals for the eleventh time in 13 seasons, whereas Chelsea have appeared in the final 4 eight occasions however solely as soon as in the final eight campaigns.

Madrid have received six of their eight video games in this season’s competitors (with one draw and one defeat) whereas Chelsea have recorded 5 victories and two defeats – each losses coming away from residence.

Real Madrid and Chelsea, the final two winners of the Champions League, meet in the knockout rounds for the third season operating as their quarter-final kicks off on the Bernabéu.

Each facet has loved latest success towards the opposite en path to taking the trophy; Madrid edged by a exceptional last-eight assembly final season on their strategy to claiming their 14th European Cup, whereas Chelsea’s 2020/21 triumph included a semi-final elimination of the Spanish facet.

Lampard was reappointed Blues boss to the shock of many final week and studies urged Corden, who’s pleasant with Boehly, persuaded the American billionaire proprietor to convey again the membership’s document goalscorer to the dugout.

Corden, a West Ham fan, has hosted American discuss present The Late Late Show since 2015 and was seen at Stamford Bridge with Boehly final October.

Carlo Ancelotti makes six modifications to the Real Madrid facet that misplaced to Villarreal on Saturday. He brings again Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao into the defence while stacking the midfield with expertise and expertise. Federico Valverde, Edouardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos all return.

There are three modifications for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea. He units the Blues up in a 3-5-2 formation and brings Thiago Silva into the again line in place of Marc Cucurella. N’Golo Kante starts in midfield alongside Mateo Kovacic and Enzo Fernandez while Ben Chilwell will present momentum as the left wingback.

“The Premier League is one of the greatest challenges in world football, and those challenges have obviously taken us to a place we don’t want to be as Chelsea,” mentioned Frank Lampard when talking about Chelsea’s struggles this season.

“I think the Champions League sometimes offers you a bit of escapism from that – a different speed of game, knockout football, those things can all contribute to getting different success in the same season.

“There’s stress on each groups as a result of dimension of each golf equipment. Are Real Madrid favourites? Yes. [But] there’s no higher carrot in soccer than attempting to show folks fallacious.

“I think that’s a nice challenge for us. I’m not worried about that, in terms of pressure. Football at this level is pressure and if you can’t handle it, you’re not a big club or big player.”

Chelsea XI: Arrizabalaga; Fofana, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly; James, Kante, Kovacic, Fernandez, Chilwell; Sterling, Felix