Madrid, April 11 (IANS) Real Madrid aims to return to business as usual when they take on Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday night.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti rested key players for Saturday’s match at home to Villarreal and saw how his side lost a thrilling match 3-2, but key players, such as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal are all likely to be back against Chelsea, reports Xinhua.
Ferland Mendy is Madrid’s only injury and the only big doubt is whether Nacho Fernandez, David Alaba or Eduardo Camavinga will replace him.
Although he has performed well in midfield in recent weeks, Camavinga could be the favorite, after his excellent display on the left in Madrid’s 4-0 Copa del Rey win away to Barcelona last week.
Karim Benzema will lead the attack alongside Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo, although Fede Valverde could play a linking role between midfield and attack.
The Uruguayan has been in the headlines in the past two days after it was revealed that he punched Villarreal’s Alex Baena in the car park at the Bernabeu on Saturday night, with Baena confirming on Monday that he had made an official complaint to the police about the incident and Spain’s Anti-Violence Committee saying they too would open an investigation.
Chelsea went close to knocking Madrid out of the Champions League at the same stage last season, but they travel to Spain in miserable form. Graham Potter left his job just over a week ago after the team slipped to 11th in the Premier League table, and Frank Lampard, who was sacked by the club in 2021, made a shock return as his replacement until the end of the season.
Lampard’s first game in charge ended in a 1-0 defeat away to Wolverhampton on Saturday and it is clear that Chelsea’s main problem is scoring goals, something highlighted by the fact that Kai Havertz is their top scorer in the Premier League, with just four goals, while others, such as Raheem Sterling are struggling for form and the experienced trio of Mason Mount, Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva are all injured.
–IANS
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