A place in the finals of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League will be on the line when Chelsea play hosts to Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge this midweek.

We are in the penultimate stages of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League and the second leg of the second semi-final will be played out on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge as Premier League bigwigs Chelsea take on La Liga champions Real Madrid in a blockbuster encounter.

The first leg, played last week at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, ended in a 1-1 draw, with Karim Benzema cancelling out Christian Pulisic’s early strike. The result gives Chelsea the edge due to the away goal rule heading into Wednesday’s fixture and a goalless draw will be enough for them to cruise through to the finals. So, the onus will be on Real Madrid to take the game to their hosts and come out on top if they are to stay alive in the competition.

As far as preparations for the heavyweight clash goes, Chelsea warmed up in fine fashion, securing a solid 2-0 win over local rivals Fulham in the Premier League this past weekend. Real Madrid, too, picked up a victory over CA Osasuna by the same scoreline as their midweek opponents while also managing to rest some of their key players ahead of the trip to west London.

The winner will set up a date against either Manchester City in Istanbul later this month. And ahead of this monumental encounter coming our way from Stamford Bridge, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both teams.

Sepe should not fail.

50-50 game.
Tough & very open match.