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Chelsea welcome Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their quarterfinal knowing they have already been defeated
Real Madrid’s incredible UEFA Champions League record and Chelsea’s atrocious form means that the Blues would be better served to spend their time knitting scarves than turning up for the second leg of their quarterfinal.
Under Frank Lampard, Chelsea have somehow managed to be worse than they were under the heavily vilified Graham Potter, who in turn had a worse go at the Chelsea job than his predecessor Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea’s struggles not stopping any time soon
The result of Chelsea’s ever-worsening form is that they are 11th in the Premier League without a prayer of reaching the European qualification spots ahead of next season, while also getting knocked out of the FA Cup and EFL Cup at the third round.
Chelsea’s last hope of silverware or UEFA Champions League qualification for the 2023/24 season took a massive blow when they were drawn against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.
The first leg against the reigning European champions exposed the chasm between the two teams Real Madrid cruised to a comfortable win over the Blues to secure a 2-0 lead ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge.
In the aftermath of the loss, Chelsea have done nothing to suggest that the result and performance were an anomaly, as they went on to have an equally infamous outing against Brighton.
The Seagulls although not traditionally considered a big team, find themselves knocking on the door of European qualification, and against Chelsea, they showed that they were good value for their current 10 point lead over the Blues on the Premier League table.
Brighton harried and hustled Chelsea during an eventual 2-1 win for the Seagulls at Stamford Bridge, peppering the Chelsea goal with 26 shots to break the record for most shots by an opponent away to Chelsea since the 2003/04 season.
Chelsea braving the odds against Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge
With Stamford Bridge already demystified by a side with fewer top-flight league seasons than Real Madrid have European conquests, Chelsea could not be in worse shape to face Los Blancos, while the Spanish giants come into the game in incredible European form.
The victory over Chelsea in the first leg of the UCL quarterfinal was Real Madrid’s fifth straight win in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, with only Barcelona’s run of seven straight wins between 2014 and 2016 bettering Los Blancos current run of victories.
Incidentally, all five of Real Madrid’swins have come in games against English opposition, with Manchester City and Liverpool (three times) also getting bested by the reigning champions.
In addition to this, Real Madrid’s 2-0 advantage from the first leg of the quarterfinal has proven nearly insurmountable for Los Blancos’ opponents in the Champions League as they have not given up a two-goal first-leg advantage in advantage since the 20003/04 season against Monaco, qualifying 18 of the 19 times that they have secured a lead of two or more goals in the first-leg of a UCL tie.
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