Real Madrid vs Chelsea preview, team news, betting odds & prediction

Chelsea face a monumental task to turn around their Champions League quarter-final when they take on Real Madrid in the second leg at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night.

The Blues slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge last week when Karim Benzema blew them away with a superb hat-trick. That result has left Chelsea with a mountain to climb if they’re to reach the semi-finals and maintain any hope of defending the trophy they won last year.

Thomas Tuchel got an excellent response from his players at the weekend as they thrashed Southampton 6-0 at St Mary’s to cement third place in the Premier League table. Mason Mount [2], Timo Werner [2], Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz were all on target.

The Chelsea boss will now be hoping for another sensational performance on the road as they look to turn things around against Real Madrid in Spain. Carlo Ancelotti’s side warmed up for the game with a routine 2-0 win over Getafe at the weekend to tighten their grip at the top of the La Liga table.

Betting odds

If you plan to bet on the game you can click here to see some of the best offers available at casinos and bookmakers online. Understandably, Madrid are the 7/5 favourites to to win tomorrow night.  Chelsea are priced at 15/8 to win the second leg at the Bernabeu while the draw can be backed at 12/5.

Holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg, Madrid are huge 1/14 favourites to qualify for the semi-finals, while you can get odds of 7/1 on Chelsea turning things around to reach the next phase of the Champions League.

Real Madrid will be formidable opposition at home and a 2-1 win is priced at 8/1. If we add Benzema as first scorer in a 2-1 Madrid victory the odds increase to 34/1.

Team news

Chelsea will assess the fitness of Romelu Lukaku after he missed the win over Southampton on Saturday with an Achilles injury. It’s not a major injury according to Tuchel so Lukaku should make the trip to Spain.

However, Cesar Azpilicueta is expected to miss out after testing positive for covid. Callum Hudson-Odoi is also ruled out after suffering a calf injury last week while Ben Chilwell is still working his way back from a knee injury.

Tuchel could freshen things up with the likes of Jorginho, Christian Pulisic, Reece James and Hakim Ziyech all pushing for recalls after being benched at the weekend.

As for Madrid, they’ll be without Eder Militao due to suspension after he picked up another yellow card in the first leg. Eden Hazard will miss out against his former club due to injury while Luka Jovic and Isco are also on the sidelines.

Ferland Mendy is expected to be recalled at left-back after being rested at the weekend. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos were also given a breather at the weekend and will return in midfield.

Prediction

Chelsea were superb away to Southampton at the weekend but this will be an entirely different challenge for the west Londoners. Madrid are European experts and know what it takes to get the job done in the second leg. Ancelotti won’t be taking any chances to allow Chelsea back into the game and with Benzema up front, they will always be a goal threat.

We do think Chelsea will cause Madrid problems as the Spaniards defence has looked vulnerable, but it’s going to be a big task to overturn a 3-1 first leg defeat. We predict Madrid to edge it 2-1 on Tuesday night to secure a 5-2 aggregate victory over Chelsea. Real Madrid 2-1 Chelsea