Real Madrid will head into tonight’s Champions League encounter with Chelsea on the back of a 1-1 draw in the first-leg played at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano last week Tuesday.
Karim Benzema had cancelled out Christian Pulisic’s early strike with a superb overhead kick to peg Chelsea’s qualification hopes back.
Real Madrid would be seeking to alter Chelsea’s chances to reach the final for the first time since 2012 when they clash at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, the first-leg result puts Chelsea in an advantageous position due to the away goal rule. Thus, the onus will be on Zinedine Zidane’s men to take the game to their hosts and come out on top eventually if they dream of a date at Istanbul with Manchester City.
Chelsea missed couple of begging chances in the first-leg which would have put them at least ahead of their opponents, but Thomas Tuchel will hope to see his side triumph by any means.
Real Madrid and Chelsea have only ever met three times down the years, and the Spanish side have failed to win any of those meetings – losing twice and drawing once to the Blues since 1971.
Chelsea warmed up in fine fashion, securing a solid 2-0 win over local rivals Fulham in the Premier League this past weekend.
Real Madrid also picked up a victory over CA Osasuna by the same scoreline as their midweek opponents while also managing to rest some of their key players ahead of the trip to west London.
Chelsea will once again be without the services of midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who will sit out against his former club due to a thigh injury.
Antonio Rudiger, who missed the weekend win against Fulham, with a facial injury, is available for selection and should be able to play with mask on, Thomas Tuchel confirmed ahead of the game.
On the other hand, Real Madrid have been handed a triple boost ahead of their trip to London as captain Sergio Ramos is fully fit and part of the travelling squad.
In addition, Federico Valverde has recovered from coronavirus while Ferland Mendy is also back to fitness and has been included for the trip as well.
However, Raphael Varane has been ruled out after picking up an injury at the weekend. He joins Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal on the sidelines.
