Chelsea weren’t quite as outplayed by Real Madrid as much as they were outgunned by Karim Benzema last week at Stamford Bridge. To lose by two goals in a home leg of a Champions League knockout tie usually means the end of the road. But this is Chelsea, the ruling European champions we’re talking about. You simply can’t dismiss them before it’s over.The Blues’ midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who is set to face his old club, has memories of dramatic comebacks – both in the shirts of Real Madrid and Chelsea.”There have been a couple of comebacks. In the 2015/16 season, when I was a Real Madrid player, we lost the first game 2-0 at Wolfsburg, and we came to the Bernabeu, and we won 3-0. I also played when Chelsea eliminated Napoli. We lost 3-1 away and at Stamford Bridge, we came back to win 5-4. Football is always surprising, and we need to be ready more than 100 per cent to complete a comeback. We have our chances of progressing, and we’re motivated. We didn’t have our best game and the result was not good in the last game but there is hope.”#UCL Chelsea 1-3 Real Madrid HD pic.twitter.com/JHphVzdVu7— . (@HD84430180) April 6, 2022 Chelsea need some of their strikers to emulate Benzema’s exploits from last week – but it won’t be Romelu Lukaku. The big Belgian’s career is rapidly deteriorating. He hasn’t even travelled to the Spanish capital and won’t take part in one of the games of the season. He appeared as a substitute in last Wednesday’s loss to Madrid, but did little to help the cause. He’s not scored a league goal since December 29 and last started a league match on February 19.When you add the whole Roman Abramovich/club sale/sanctions situation, it doesn’t seem like Chelsea will have a rosy end to the season. But it could all change tonight – especially if the Blues emulate their weekend’s performance at Southampton.Chelsea confirm Romelu Lukaku will miss their game against Real Madrid due to injury pic.twitter.com/387Vt8L5IN— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 11, 2022 Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admits their chances aren’t the best, but they could make it to the semi-final, provided they play a “perfect” game.”It’s worth trying in sports. It’s a beauty of the game that everything is possible always. We will try everything. Hopefully, belief grows within the match by our actions and hopefully, we can fulfil our dream. But realistically, we have to invest a lot and be at our very top level. What chance do we have? Not the biggest chance. But we will try to be in better shape and condition than in the first match.”Real Madrid’s former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said his side still has work to do to qualify.”Chelsea will come here to rescue the tie, I have no doubt about it. I’m sure Chelsea will come here to win. That’s the spirit of football, the spirit of big clubs and great players, never to give up. Chelsea are a powerful rival. We have to have a lot of respect.”It promises to be a great match at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Whether it’s also going to be a great comeback – well, you shouldn’t rule it out.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEQuarter-final, second legTuesday22.00: (2.60) Real Madrid (3.40) Chelsea (2.85) /first leg 3-1/22.00: (1.30) Bayern (6.25) Villareal (10.0) /first leg 0-1/Wednesday22.00: (5.00) Atl.Madrid (3.50) Man.City (1.85) /first leg 0-1/22.00: (1.30) Liverpool (6.25) Benfica (10.0) /first leg 3-1/***odds are subject to change
