Quite a few Chelsea players need to be on their best behaviour this evening. Of the starting line-up, Kepa, Enzo Fernández, Thiago Silva, Reece James and Kalidou Koulibaly are all one booking away from missing the second leg. Mykhailo Mudryk and Conor Gallagher will also have to watch themselves if they come on.
Real Madrid have no such concerns. Not a single player, either starting or on the bench, faces suspension if booked tonight.
Real Madrid make six changes to the XI that started the 3-2 home defeat to Villarreal. Dani Carvajal, Éder Militão, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde return. Nacho, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vázquez, Aurélien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos and Antonio Rüdiger all drop to the bench.
Chelsea make three changes to the side that went down 1-0 at Wolves on Saturday. N’Golo Kanté, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell come in for Conor Gallagher, Kai Havertz and Marc Cucurella. It’s Thiago Silva’s first appearance for Chelsea since the defeat at Tottenham in late February.
The teams
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Kroos, Camavinga, Modrić, Valverde, Vinícius Júnior, Benzema, Rodrygo.
Subs: Lunin, López, Vallejo, Nacho, Hazard, Asensio, Odriozola, Vázquez, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Rüdiger, Díaz.
Chelsea: Kepa, Fofana, Koulibaly, Silva, James, Fernández, Kanté, Kovačić, Chilwell, Félix, Sterling.
Subs: Mendy, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Mudryk, Mount, Zakaria, Ziyech, Gallagher, Azpilicueta, Havertz, Cucurella.
Referee: François Letexier (France).
Preamble
A struggling mid-table Premier League team, managed by a man who only a few months ago was leading Everton towards the Championship, versus the reigning kings of Europe, coached by a four-time Champions League winner? There’s only one way this is going, right?
Well, maybe. Spin it like that if you must. But consider some alternatives. Perhaps this is the start of a journey of redemption and validation for Frank Lampard, a story unfolding in suspiciously similar fashion to Chelsea’s surprise season-salvaging, manager-swapping Champions League victory of 2012. Real Madrid aren’t in the greatest form right now, having lost two of their last four matches, the latest a 3-2 home reverse to Villarreal. And Chelsea have the historical edge over Madrid, 4-1 up in wins, having beaten them in the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup final and the 1998 Super Cup. There aren’t too many clubs that can claim a record against the 14-time European champions like that.
Whichever way you spin it, this is a summit meeting all right. This is the third year in a row in Real Madrid and Chelsea have met, and on both previous occasions, the winner has gone on to lift the trophy. Whoever goes through gets to face Bayern Munich or, more likely, Manchester City in the semi-finals. Kick-off is at 9pm in Madrid, 8pm BST. It’s on!