CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Confirmed Real Madrid XI vs Chelsea in second leg of Champions League quarter-finals
Real Madrid take a 2-0 lead into Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Premier League club Chelsea.
Ancelotti has decided to go with the same XI that beat Chelsea in the first leg, and thumped Barcelona in the Copa del Rey. The Italian manager isn’t taking any chances.
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Real Madrid players make it hard to pick team - Ancelotti
“It’s hard to settle on the starting line-up,” Ancelotti said. “You can think you have it clear in your mind one day, then the players who don’t get so much game time put in a really good performance, and it changes your thinking. And this is a squad that changes my thinking a lot.”
The Madrid boss has decided not to make changes, and it is certain that the spine of the team will be the same, with Éder Militão and David Alaba at centre-back, Toni Kroos at the base of the midfield and Rodrygo Goes joining Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior in attack.
In April, Ancelotti has followed a policy of rotating his side in LaLiga at the weekend, and sticking with a consistent line-up in midweek in the Champions League and Copa del Rey - the two competitions that Los Blancos are still in contention to win.
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Sextet of changes from Cádiz victory?
So, Ancelotti will go with the XI from the first leg against Chelsea, there will be six changes to the team that began Saturday’s 2-0 league win at Cádiz. Lucas Vázquez, Antonio Rüdiger, Nacho Fernández, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio would make way for Dani Carvajal, Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Kroos and Vinícius.
Real Madrid’s confirmed XI vs Chelsea:
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Camavinga; Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema and Vinícius.
With the injured Ferland Mendy the only player unavailable to Ancelotti, Madrid have taken a 23-man squad to London. The European champions’ bench is expected to be: Andriy Lunin, Luis López; Vázquez, Álvaro Odriozola, Rüdiger, Nacho, Jesús Vallejo, Tchouaméni, Ceballos, Asensio, Eden Hazard and Mariano Díaz.
Carvajal, Militão walk yellow-card tightrope
Carvajal and Militão are both one yellow card away from a suspension, so a booking at Stamford Bridge would rule them out of the semi-final first leg - if Madrid qualify. All outstanding yellows are wiped after the quarter-finals, so if the pair avoid being cautioned and Madrid go through, they will have a clean slate in the last four.