Slim chance of Chelsea reversing Teal's advantage
Real Madrid and Chelsea resume locking horns just six days after their UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg meeting ended 3-1 to the visitors at Stamford Bridge. Karim Benzema was unplayable that evening, grabbing a hat-trick in perhaps the most productive season of his career. It's a long way back for Thomas Tuchel's men. Read our preview here:
Nacho's crunch
Tuchel's side took out their frustrations on a far too accommodating Southampton at St. Mary's, leaving with a 6-0 pummelling of the Saints in tow. They'll be under no illusions whatsoever that their trip to the Spanish giants will be worlds apart, but can take heart from several individual performances from Saturday's exploits, not least of which was Timo Werner's. It's no secret that the German striker has struggled for consistency since making the move to England from RB Leipzig two years ago, but he does have the ability to drift between the centre backs and the defensive line as a whole to good effect. With Romelu Lukaku and Ben Chilwell both still out, the head coach could name an unchanged XI in the hope that they can take the game to their opponents.
Betting tip
Chelsea are by no means incapable of causing an upset, but such is the class of Benzema and his fellow elder statesmen like Luka Modrić that it's very difficult to envisage Real Madrid not at least scoring once. That then would make their job all the more difficult, and the chances of retaining Europe's top club prize even more remote. Casumo have odds of 2.43 for Los Blancos to dump the holders out by also winning the second leg.
