Real Madrid showed their true European mettle by beating Chelsea 3-1 in the 1st leg of the Champions League quarter-finals and barring any major calamity, the Los Blancos should be the favourites to progress to the next round.
Madrid have the defensive prowess to protect a two-goal at home and on top of that, the likes of Benzema and Vinicius are in fine form so they should be scoring goals as well.
The Spanish side caught Chelsea by surprise in the 1st leg but this time around, Thomas Tuchel and his players will be prepared so we are expecting a much more even contest. Ancelotti does not have too many tricks up his sleeve so his tactics and team selection should be pretty straightforward.
The manager does have a few injuries to deal with but that should be too big an issue for him this week. The last time these two sides met in Spain was at the Alfredo Di Stéfano in April of last year and in that match, Chelsea were able to hold Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw. A draw won’t be enough this time around so the Blues will have to go all out and this is where the home side are going to have a major upper hand.
What a player! @Benzema pic.twitter.com/iiDp1sCJGR
— Luka Modrić (@lukamodric10) April 6, 2022
Real Madrid team news for the 2nd leg:
Alaba and Militao will deputise in central defence but Ferland Mendy is likely to be an absentee for the 2nd leg this week.
The full-back missed the Getafe game due to an injury and if he is not fit in time then Nacho will come into the starting line-up and take up the left-back role.
Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric ran the show in the 1st leg at Stamford Bridge and if Chelsea need to stand any chance at winning this week then they will have to keep a check on this trio.
Carlo Ancelotti has no other major midfielders to fall back to so all these three players are guaranteed starters for the 2nd leg. Now the onus is on Tuchel to deploy a plan to stop them from playing their A-game.
📊| Luka Modrić covered 10.95 km tonight for Real Madrid, the highest. @livescore
36-years-old. 🤯ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· pic.twitter.com/LBpjMrGtHC
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) April 6, 2022
Isco is out with a back injury and he is ruled out for the next few weeks while Eden Hazard is out for the remainder of the season after picking up an ankle injury.
Rodrygo played on the right flank against Getafe but vs Chelsea Valverde will come into the side and occupy that space.
Vinicius and Benzema ran riot last week at the Bridge and the Real Madrid fans will be hoping to see the same from them this week as well.
Gareth Bale made a rare appearance off the bench in the 1st leg and there’s a chance we might see him this week too if Real Madrid manage to wrap things up early.
Real Madrid predicted line up vs Chelsea:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-3-3): Courtois; Nacho, Alaba, Militao, Carvajal; Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Vinicius Junior, Benzema, Valverde.
