Real Madrid vs Chelsea. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more
Chelsea will host Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, second leg. The match will take place on March 13, beginning at 00:30 IST.
The first Champions League semi-finalists will be decided on Tuesday night, 12 April. One of the teams with the highest chances of reaching the next round is Real Madrid. After the last match, analysts estimate the Spaniards’ probability of reaching the semi-finals at 88%. Will this be the case, or will the proud English strike back and turn the tide of the battle?
Parimatchnews will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.
Real Madrid News & Current Form:
There are no such things as trifles in football. It is a simple truth that Thibaut Courtois has learnt well. Before the start of the game at Stamford Bridge, the Belgian asked Karim Benzema to change the starting side of the field in order to defend the goal, which is situated opposite the Matthew Harding stand.
The Belgian goalkeeper has spent more than one season at Chelsea and is well aware of the statistics that say it is the goal where the Londoners score the most goals. Courtois felt that before the break it would be easier for him to cope with the pressure of the local fans, who have yet to forgive him for leaving for Real Madrid – and he was right. The Belgian conceded only one goal in the first half. After the break, with the support of the Madrid fans seated in the South Stand, Thibaut made spectacular saves in front of César Azpilicueta and Reece James, thus maintaining a comfortable head start for Real Madrid in the return leg.
But after the match, it was not Courtois who took all the credit, but Karim Benzema. The forward scored a hat-trick against Chelsea, bringing his tally of goals in the current campaign to eleven, and moving up to eleventh place in the Champions League’s all-time list of top scorers.
One of Ancelotti’s key decisions was to include fast Federico Valverde in the starting line-up. Real Madrid’s midfield completely outplayed Chelsea’s. It wasn’t that visible either, but it played a huge role.
This match marked the absolute best since Carlo Ancelotti returned to the team. Only the return leg against PSG is comparable.
Against the backdrop of the recent capitulation at the El Clasico and the lacklustre match against Celta, Madrid’s performance this time was perfect – the wind of this success helped the team regain the confidence faster.
A few days after their win at Stamford Bridge, Real Madrid CF beat Getafe 2-0 at home to move one step closer to winning La Liga.
Chelsea News & Current Form:
History knows very few cases in which a team have qualified for the next round of the Champions League play-offs after a 1-3 home defeat. Therefore, Chelsea are expected to formally quit as reigning European champions on Tuesday. But the rules have changed and away goals are no longer of the same importance this season, which means that the Blues are perfectly happy with a 2-0 win to at least push matters into overtime.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s poor defensive performance in the first leg against Real Madrid proved to be a letdown. In addition to mistakes in the midfield, the UCL trophy holders performed poorly in the centre of defence. Something similar happened shortly before against Brentford, they scored four goals against Chelsea.
The reaction of Thomas Tuchel’s side to the setback defeat was impressive. Last weekend, the Londoners thrashed Southampton 6-0 away. There could have been many more goals, but Werner twice tested the woodwork, after 60 minutes, the Blues came to a frank halt. Tuchel gradually replaced Kai Havertz and Mason Mount, and Chelsea began to save their energies for the trip to Madrid.
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Real Madrid season form guide (all competitions): W-W-L-W-W-W
Chelsea season form guide (all competitions): W-W-W-L-L-W
Real Madrid vs Chelsea Head-To-Head Record:
| Real Madrid | Draw | Chelsea |
| 2 | 1 | 1 |
Real Madrid vs Chelsea Predicted XI:
Real Madrid’s predicted line-up (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Nacho Fernandez, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric; Fede Valverde, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Chelsea’s predicted line-up (3-4-3): Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Reece James, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso; Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Mason Mount.
Statistical preview of the match Real Madrid vs Chelsea:
- Los Vikingos have progressed into the next stage in the knockout stage of the competition on nine of their last 10 occasions in which they secured a win in the first leg.
- Chelsea’s away winning streak is already eight games long.
- Chelsea’s goal-scoring streak in their Champions League encounters against Real Madrid is 3 games.
- Real Madrid has conceded at least a goal in the last UCL matches.
- Chelsea netted in the 7 UCL consecutive matches.
What has been said before the match:
“Everyone is well aware that it’s going to be a difficult game. The fans know and so do we. It’s the Champions League quarter-finals and regardless of what happened in the first leg, we’re well aware that in order to reach the semi-finals we’ll have to suffer, to fight, to compete and be in the game for 90 minutes”
“I have a squad that is very familiar with this type of match and is aware of what has happened in the past and what can happen. We won’t be going out relaxed and the spirit in the squad today is a happy one due to the big opportunity we have to play in this game to reach the Champions League semi-finals. We’re up against a very strong side and we must respect them and we do have a lot of respect for them”.
“It is one of the biggest challenges to perform as the away team at the Bernabeu. It is even more difficult if you have to earn a certain result, if you need to win with a minimum of two goals, or maybe even a three-goal goal difference. That makes it almost impossible and very difficult. The task is incredibly hard and the challenge is incredibly high given the circumstances of the first leg and where we play and against who we play and at what stage we play this kind of match.”
“But still it’s worth trying and it’s still a stage where you can also over perform. We need to over perform. It’s not easy, it’s the opposite, but at the same time it’s a big experience to learn from and maybe an experience to take and over perform.”
‘It’s always allowed to dream. It’s sometimes important to imagine things and to dream about it, but it will not shift the focus from the fact that we need to deliver and we need to be ready tonight. We will support our team and we will try hard. It’s worth trying. It’s the beauty of the game that everything is possible always. So we will arrive and try everything because it’s worth trying and from there we see and hopefully we have a match where belief grows within the match and by our actions. Hopefully we can fulfil our dream, live up to our dream, but realistically we have to invest a lot and be on our very top level.”
Real Madrid vs Chelsea Prediction:
Tonight, teams of roughly equal strength will take to the pitch and be worthy of playing in the next leg. The home side have the support of the stands and excellent physical and mental health. The Blues have a great selection of players and a huge desire to retain the Champions League title, which will give the players extra motivation. We’re expecting a repeat of the first game’s scenario and an abundance of attacks and goalscoring chances. We assume that both teams will be able to take their opportunities in attack tonight.
Parimatch News staff prediction:
We say: both teams to score – Yes.