Chelsea Vs Real Madrid Champions League Quarter-Final Preview: Heavy Task Of The Blues At Stamford Bridge
JAKARTA Chelsea had a tough task when they hosted Spanish giant Real Madrid in the second leg of the European Champions League quarter-finals for the 2022/2023 season. They need to win by a three-goal difference if they want to qualify for the semifinals.
The duel between The Blues and Madrid will be presented at Stamford Bridge Stadium, London, England, Wednesday, April 19 at 02.00 WIB. The hosts are on a bad track with interim manager Frank Lampard.
Lampard previously led the team to play the first leg at Los Blancos' headquarters at the Santiago Bernabeu last week. At that time, he had to see his team suffer a two-goal loss without reply in that match.
It was one of the three matches he has played since returning to lead the Blues. Of those three opportunities, none of the matches ended in victory.
The latest defeat occurred at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League last weekend. In that match, Conor Gallagher's goal was in vain after being rewarded by Danny Welbeck's header and Julio Enciso's rocket kick.
The defeat means the Blues have not won in six games in a row since beating Leicester City 3-1 in March. At that time the London team was still managed by Graham Potter.
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The series of bad results certainly made the London public not so optimistic about welcoming Los Blancos. The La Liga giants are still in the position that is seeded to advance to the semifinals.
Chelsea actually managed to qualify five times from their last seven matches in the European Champion League after they lost their first leg in an away game.
However, they failed to win one of their last four games at Stamford Bridge since beating Borussia Dortmund. To that end, they need their best form to score three goals against the reigning champion.
On the other hand, Madrid have managed to qualify for the next round 18 times from 19 knockout matches in the European Champions League after winning the first leg with at least two goals without reply.
They only lost to US runners-up Monaco in the 2003/2004. At that time Los Blancos were only eliminated thanks to the away goal rule which has now been abolished after a 5-5 draw on aggregate.
Predictions of the line-up:
Chelsea (4-3-3): Kepa; James, Fofana, Silva, Cucurella; Fernandez, Kante, Kovacic; Mudryk, Havertz, Felix
Coach: Frank Lampard
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Camavinga; Modric, Valverde, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Coach: Carlo Ancelotti