UEFA Champions League Quarter-final Preview: Real Madrid vs Chelsea

The grid keeps getting smaller and smaller as we finally get down to real business. It"s about time we begin to perceive the aroma of European glory, teams drive themselves the extra mile to ensure they make history and break it.

We"re down to just eight. It all started with thirty-two from all across Europe but now we"re left with eight. And over the next couple of games, there would be an exact downsizing by half. It doesn"t get any better, does it?

The UEFA Champions League is set to return, to take the big picture once again on April 11. With no doubt, this competition will be stealing the thunder the leagues have garnered in the past couple of weeks. All eyes turn to Europe where the likes of Madrid, Napoli and Manchester City slug it out for the prestigious trophy.

Manchester City were dealt a rather tough card in Bayern Munich, Napoli may be on the brink of making the last four being the beneficiaries of a relatively lucky AC Milan draw, Inter Milan would walk into the quarter-finals with their heads held up high having to face Benfica while Chelsea and Real Madrid lock horns in a remake from last season"s quarter-final showdown.

So, without further ado, let"s delve into these four amazing match-ups.

You can find the previews of the other matchups here:

SL Benfica vs Inter Milan

Bayern Munich vs Manchester City

Napoli vs AC Milan

Real Madrid vs Chelsea

Is this deja-vu or are the two previous winners of the Champions League really going to square off once again?

The past two editions of Europe"s topflight competition have not gone by without having a Real Madrid vs Chelsea match-up and that means there"s plenty of reminiscing to do.

It"s quite interesting to note that this tie has been the bomb in deciding the past two winners of the Champions League. Chelsea got the better of the Spanish giants in the 2020/21 season, defeating Madrid 3-1 on aggregate and eventually going on to win the competition. Ancelotti"s men had a perfect moment to exact revenge on their English nemesis, triumphing 5-4 in the quarter-finals and eventually clinching a record fourteenth UCL title.

And the latest teams to have gotten their hands on the greatest club prize are set to go at each other. Madrid host the Blues at the Bernabeu on Wednesday before travelling to the Stamford Bridge for the return leg.

Madrid are cruising at high speeds these days. They crushed Real Valladolid by a six-goal margin on Sunday. They humiliated Xavi"s Barcelona 4-0 in the semi-finals of the Copa Del Ray on Wednesday and now they get to face a disoriented Chelsea. They"re in high spirits this moment.

The Blues are in the midst of a Bayern-esque crisis. Having to sack head coach, Graham Potter after repeated poor performances in the league which sees the club stuck in 10th place and with Frank Lampard"s recent appointment as interim manager, it would be quite the task to make a big, drastic change for the remainder of this spell.

Chelsea vs Real Madrid key stats:

• Madrid have gone through in their past ten times they"ve reached the UCL quarter-finals.
• The last time the club exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage was 2003/04 where they were defeated by AS Monaco.

Chelsea vs Real Madrid Head-to-Head

Both teams have faced each other seven times. Chelsea have won on four occasions, drawn twice and lost once.

Main image credit Embed from Getty Images