Real Madrid were held to a 0-0 draw by Real Betis in the La Liga this weekend, thereby keeping the Spanish title race very much open. But for the next few days, Zidane will have to shift his focus to Europe.
Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the previous round of the Champions League and in the semi-final they face another Premier League side in the form of Chelsea.
This will be the fourth time these two sides will be meeting in European competitions and funnily enough, the Spanish side have never won a match against the Blues – losing two and drawing one. But they do go into this first leg having been unbeaten in their previous five Champions League matches.
Zidane has a few injury concerns to deal with and most of them are in the defensive areas of the pitch. Thankfully, Chelsea have not been in their best goal-scoring form since Thomas Tuchel took charge at the club.
Real Madrid team news vs Chelsea:
Sergio Ramos is out with a muscle injury but Raphael Varane is back to full fitness and he is likely to pair up with Militao in central defence on Tuesday night.
Ferland Mendy is another player who is ruled out with a calf problem which is why Nacho will be playing as the left-back much like he did against Real Betis during the weekend.
The midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Modric and Casemiro ran riot against Liverpool in the quarter-finals and Zinedine Zidane will be hoping for a repeat of the same against Chelsea as well.
The biggest bit of positive news for Real Madrid is the return of Eden Hazard to full fitness and against Real Betis, the winger got to feature in the last quarter of the match.
Hazard is definitely in line to feature against his former side but we are not sure if the manager will be too comfortable in handing him a start in such a crucial game. This was his first game in over a month so it’s more likely that Hazard will feature off the bench vs Chelsea.
Vinicius Junior is going to start on the left flank with Karim Benzema leading the line and Asensio playing on the right wing.
UPDATE: Mendy is likely to be available for selection for the first leg but it remains to be seen if he is fit enough to start or not.
Real Madrid’s predicted XI vs Chelsea:
Predicted Line-up: Courtois; Nacho, Varane, Éder Militão, Carvajal; Kroos, Casemiro, Modrić; Asensio, Benzema, VinÃcius Júnior.
Injury updates via TransferMarkt.
