Champions League: follow the Champions League semi-final first leg between Real Madrid and Chelsea

The essential

• After eliminating Liverpool and Porto in the quarter-finals respectively, Real Madrid and Chelsea go head-to-head for a place in the Champions League final.

• The winner of this double confrontation will find in the final on May 29 in Istanbul that of the other half who opposes PSG to Manchester City from tomorrow evening.

• Real Madrid evolve without Ferland Mendy and captain Sergio Ramos, injured, but record the return of Toni Kroos.

  On the Chelsea side, Thomas Tuchel does without Hakim Ziyech at kick-off and lines up Timo Werner.

The pre-match

8:20 p.m.

The referee of this semi-final first leg of the Champions League is the Dutchman Dannie Makkelie. The latter was already on the whistle in the round of 16 second leg won by Real Madrid against Atalanta Bergamo (3-1). In October 2014, he refereed his first Champions League meeting: a large victory for Chelsea against the Slovenes of Maribor (6-0). He found the Blues three years later for a group match against Atlético Madrid (1-1).

8:16 p.m. Superleague.

This semi-final first leg of the Champions League is the first European meeting since the Super League fiasco. It opposes two founding members of the abortive elitist competition. On the one hand, Real Madrid occupies a leading role in the project since Florentino Pérez is the president. On the other side, Chelsea, like the five other English clubs involved, quickly left the ship in the face of an outcry from the football world, especially supporters.

8:12 p.m.

Chelsea without Hakim Ziyech but with Timo Werner.

After qualifying the Blues in the FA Cup final at the expense of Manchester City, the Moroccan winger begins the meeting on the bench.

On the other hand, Timo Werner, scorer this weekend against West Ham in the Premier League, is well established.

Note also the absence of the Croatian Mateo Kovacic who, unlike Eden Hazard side Real, will not find his former club on the occasion of this semi-final due to an injury.

The composition of the Londoners is as follows: Mendy - Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rüdiger - Azpilicueta, Kanté, Jorginho, Chilwell - Mount, Werner, Pulisic.

Team news is in, Chelsea fans!

👀 # RMACHE pic.twitter.com/4PTeenQOeP

- Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 27, 2021

8:08 p.m. Will Karim Benzema be the key man in this Champions League semi-final?

Arrived at the club in the summer of 2009, the French striker has gradually gained an indisputable starting place in the eleven of Real Madrid before becoming the offensive leader since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo three years ago. A status that the striker owes in particular to a healthy lifestyle and an irreproachable physical condition at 33 years old.

8:04 p.m.

Real without Ferland Mendy and Sergio Ramos but with Toni Kroos.

For this semi-final first leg, Zinédine Zidane must again do without French left-back Ferland Mendy and captain Sergio Ramos, both injured.

On the other hand, the Real Madrid coach can line up his three-way midfielder with whom he climbed onto the roof of Europe a few seasons ago, thanks to the return of Toni Kroos alongside Casemiro and Luka Modric.

The Madrid composition is as follows: Courtois - Militao, Varane, Nacho - Carvajal, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Marcelo - Vinicius, Benzema.

📋✅ Our starting XI 🆚 @ChelseaFC!

#UCL pic.twitter.com/gYUi6s2E8G

- Real Madrid CF 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 27, 2021

8:00 p.m.

Good evening and welcome to this Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Chelsea.