Chelsea have been considered, at least since the last round or two of the UEFA Champions League, a sleeper pick to claim the title. They are favored to beat Real Madrid on Wednesday night, and thus tipped to go through to the final, where the PSG-Man City winner awaits.
Chelsea are backed at 4/7 to qualify while Real Madrid are priced at 5/4. That said, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel admittedly has a couple of fitness concerns for this one, in central defender Toni Rudiger and midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
Chelsea vs Real Madrid UCL Semis (Tie even at 1-1) FYIsย
Kick-off Time: 8:30 PM GMT, 5 May (Wednesday)
Starting XI Predictions:ย ย Chelseaย ย Real Madrid
Team News:ย ย Chelseaย ย ย Real Madrid
4 Players to watch in the UCL semis: go here
Form Guide All Competitions:ย Real Madrid DWDDWย ย Chelsea WDWDW
TV in USA: CBS Sports Network
Odds: Chelseaย 6/5 Draw 9/4ย ย Real Madrid 5/2
Both missed out of the weekend win over Fulham, but it appears the German defender will return, and he’ll do so wearing a facial mask, to protect him from the facial injury he sustained late in the first leg last week.
“For Toni, I think he will play with a mask,” Tuchel said. “He trained on Saturday with a mask so itโs just about him getting used to it.”
It seems that this match will come too soon for the Croatian, who has missed the last five matches with a hamstring problem. He encountered a setback, which means he won’t get to face his former team on Wednesday night.
“It will be a very tight race for Kovacic,” said Tuchel.
“He had a little setback and felt something in not the same area but the same muscle as before. Itโs very likely that he will not make it unfortunately.
โWe have two training sessions now to prepare for Real Madrid so it will be exciting. Iโm very happy with this group in the semi-final.
‘We feel ready for a big fight and Iโm pretty sure that we need a big performance because Real Madrid will give us a hard time.โ
Chelsea 2, Real Madrid 1ย
Expect Tuchel to have the right gameplan enacted here to seal the deal.
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank, partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author ofย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ has regularly appeared inย WGN,ย Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribuneย andย SB Nation.ย Follow himย onย Twitterย andย Instagram.
