Chelsea’s last hope of salvaging something from their season resumes as they travel to face Real Madrid in a hugely-anticipated Champions League clash.
> Real Madrid vs Chelsea is scheduled for an 8pm BST kick-off on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
Chelsea are currently in 11th place in the Premier League standings and have struggled this season. The away side slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers over the weekend and will need to work hard to bounce back in this fixture.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, are in second place in the La Liga table at the moment and have been fairly impressive form this season. Los Blancos suffered a 3-2 defeat against Villarreal in their previous game and have a point to prove this week.
Real Madrid vs Chelsea Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Real Madrid and Chelsea are facing each other in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League for the third consecutive season – the two teams have emerged victorious on one occasion each.
- Chelsea have lost only one of their seven matches against Real Madrid in Europe – the lowest loss percentage of any team that has faced Los Blancos at least five times.
- Real Madrid have been successful in their last nine knockout ties against English opponents over two legs, including their last three such ties.
- Chelsea have lost only one of their last nine UEFA Champions League games away from home against Spanish opponents and are unbeaten in their last three such games.
- Real Madrid have found the back of the net in each of their last 30 home knockout games in the UEFA Champions League, with their previous failure in this regard coming against Barcelona in 2011.
> Real Madrid vs Chelsea historical statistics
Team News
The Real Madrid medical team are only looking after one injured player in the shape of Ferland Mendy, who is still recuperating from a calf injury sustained in training last month, and he should be the hosts’ only absentee for this contest.
Ancelotti did not shy away from resting several big names for the defeat to Villarreal, and the likes of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Eder Militao and Eduardo Camavinga – who played the full 90 in both legs against Liverpool – should all be in line for recalls to the starting lineup.
The same can be said for Federico Valverde, who allegedly punched Villarreal’s Alex Baena after the game due to a personal comment that the 21-year-old made about his unborn child, which Baena has strongly denied.
Villarreal have confirmed that Baena has filed a complaint with the police, but at the time of writing, there is nothing to suggest that Valverde will not be available for Wednesday’s game.
As for Chelsea, Mason Mount would be eligible to return from a Champions League suspension for the first leg, but a recurrence of the Englishman’s abdominal issue means that he is a major doubt for the Bernabeu battle.
Armando Broja and Thiago Silva join Mount on the sidelines with their respective knee injuries, while Cesar Azpilicueta is yet to return from his sickening head injury, and the quartet of Benoit Badiashile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Noni Madueke and David Datro Fofana are not part of the Blues’ Champions League squad.
Eyebrows were raised when N’Golo Kante was absent from the squad to face Wolves, but the Frenchman’s absence was merely precautionary following his return from a hamstring problem, and he can expect a swift recall to the fold alongside Dortmund hero Ben Chilwell.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Alaba; Modric, Camavinga, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Kepa; James, Fofana, Koulibaly, Chilwell; Kovacic, Fernandez, Kante; Sterling, Havertz, Felix
