Real Madrid v Chelsea predictions: Defences could dominate cagey first leg

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg between Real Madrid and Chelsea.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Tuesday

Best bet

No goalscorer
1pt 7-1 bet365, BoyleSports

Team news

Real Madrid
Lucas Vazquez, Federico Valverde and Ferland Mendy are out, along with captain Sergio Ramos, who is hoping to be fit for the second leg. Toni Kroos and Eden Hazard are available.

Chelsea
Mateo Kovacic (thigh) remains sidelined for the Blues.

Match preview

Thomas Tuchel has demonstrated his big-game nous during an impressive start to his Chelsea career and the German is evens to steer the Blues into the Champions League final.

Standing in Chelsea's path are Real Madrid, 13-time champions of Europe, and their coach Zinedine Zidane, who claimed a hat-trick of Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018.

However, Tuchel has come out on top against some of Europe's most successful managers since arriving at Stamford Bridge in January and his team can stand firm in the semi-final first leg away to Real.

Tuchel has masterminded Chelsea's victories over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, Jose Mourinho's Tottenham and Carlo Ancelotti's Everton, also winning both legs of their last-16 tie against Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.

None of those opponents even managed to score against the Blues and that defensive excellence may well continue in Madrid.

Three of Real's last four matches have ended goalless, including the second leg of their quarter-final win over Liverpool, and no goalscorer looks a big runner at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.

Chelsea's defence came through another tough test in the Premier League on Saturday, winning 1-0 against a West Ham side who had scored 11 goals in their previous four league matches.

The Blues have conceded only three goals in ten Champions League games this season, including home and away clean sheets against La Liga sides Sevilla and Atletico.

They shut out quarter-final opponents Porto until a stunning overhead kick from Mehdi Taremi in the 93rd minute of the second leg and nothing in Tuchel's tenure so far suggests he will adopt a gung-ho approach against Real.

Four of Chelsea's 21 games under the German have finished 0-0, most recently against Brighton last Tuesday when Tuchel suggested his players had been unsettled by the protests against the European Super League taking place outside Stamford Bridge.

The architects of the ESL would no doubt be horrified to learn that these box-office stars have not played each other since 1998 when Dennis Wise took on a Real midfield of Redondo, Seedorf and Karembeu in the Uefa Super Cup.

A late Gus Poyet goal gave Chelsea a 1-0 win that day and the 2021 midfield battle also looks fascinating with Real's Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro up against Jorginho and N'Golo Kante.

Tuchel's PSG defied pre-match expectations of a goalfest in last season's final against Bayern, restricting the rampant German champions to a 1-0 win, and his side may well keep Real quiet.

Zidane's men scored two early goals in their 3-1 first-leg win over Liverpool in the last eight but their forwards are not always so incisive. In the previous round they needed an 86th-minute goal from left-back Ferland Mendy to earn a 1-0 first-leg win over an Atalanta side who played for more than 70 minutes with ten men.

Key stat

Chelsea have conceded just three goals in ten Champions League matches this season.

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