Real Madrid play well against the British, but weakly attack with crossings
Last season Thomas Tuchel took Paris Saint-Germain to the final, stepping over Real Madrid, and now that experience will come in handy to repeat the success already at the head of Chelsea London.
True, in the 2019/20 draw, the Spaniards interfered with the French in the group stage, but this can be neglected.
After all, at home, the team of the German coach easily defeated a competitor with a score of 3: 0, and on the road pulled out a draw 2: 2 due to a double in the final ten minutes.
That is, Tuchel not only came out undefeated from the dispute with Zinedine Zidane, but also effectively hacked the Madrid defense.
But a strong rear is the basis of the Real Madrid mentor's philosophy.
It is enough to look at the last four fights of the team: there are all zeros in the "conceded goals" column.
This allowed the Spaniards not only to defeat Liverpool in the Champions League quarterfinals, having caught up with the share of victories over clubs from England to 40.48%, but also to return to the championship race Examples.
Today there are only two points between Real Madrid and fellow countrymen from Atletico with five rounds to go.
Although two months ago the difference was almost five times greater.
The only thing that upset Zidane's team a little was the result of Saturday's match against Betis.
Despite the dominance in possession, Madrid oversimplified the attack, straying into the crossings.
And thus, in fact, doomed himself to failure.
Indeed, in all matches of the season, where the number of flank crosses at Real Madrid reached 22 or more, Zidane's team lost points.
Shakhtar Donetsk caught the grand in the Champions League, knocked Alcoyano out of the King's Cup, and Athletic and Valencia knocked out the champion in La Liga in a similar way.
Chelsea dominate possession but accurate defensively
Chelsea analysts will undoubtedly pay attention to this nuance, because Tuchel is famous for his meticulous analysis.
In addition, keeping the goal intact is a pivotal moment in his team setting.
Suffice it to recall that Londoners now have the second most reliable defense in the Premier League.
Such a reliable play in destruction has already led Tuchel to one final of the season: after the victory over Manchester City, the Londoners got the right to challenge the main FA Cup trophy with Leicester.
The meeting will take place on May 15, but before it Chelsea will try to retain the much more prestigious Champions League semi-final, as the club's coach says openly.
“We will try to play at the top level.
We had both tough matches and important matches, and now a good time has come to hold this meeting.
We want to play with passion.
You have to be true to yourself.
This is the strategy.
Rely on yourself and do what gives you confidence.
I hope we don’t have to be too sophisticated and apply super-efforts ”- Tuchel noted before the match.
However, the British are strong in more than one defense.
In all 14 Premier League games under Tuchel, Chelsea have outnumbered their opponents in terms of expected goals.
In many respects, the Londoners were able to act from a position of strength with an advantage in possession: in the Premier League they are third in this indicator, while in winning Champions League matches with a German coach they surpassed anyone in ball control by 13.33%!
Considering the skill level of the competition and the intensity of the resistance, the numbers are incredible.
And knocking Chelsea out of this comfort zone is Real's top priority.
The return of Eden Azar is one of the main intrigues of the match
Who will decide it, besides the obvious leaders - Toni Kroos and Luka Modric?
Of course, Eden Hazard.
Two-time champion of England, two-time winner of the Europa League recovered from his injuries and, by the time of the Champions League semi-finals, was in more or less fighting condition to play against ex-teammates.
Amid losses due to injuries to Ferlan Mendy, Sergio Ramos, Federico Valverde and Lucas Vasquez, Azar's return will give Zidane at least some variability in the middle of the field and will allow a little streamlining of the midfield actions. It is impermissible to give Chelsea the freedom to play in front of the goal, even considering that Timo Werner is wasting an incredible amount of chances in a match.
Thibault Courtois, who defended the goal of Chelsea from 2014 to 2018, will also meet with the former club.
But Londoners - unlike Azar - have already completely replaced him.
Edouard Mendy played 10 out of 14 Premier League matches under Tuchel, and at the same time allowed the coach to come close to the record of Claudio Ranieri, having issued the first 10 away meetings with the club without failures.
With such a reliable Chelsea goalkeeper, it's not scary to go to Madrid, even though the former Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic will not help the British due to an injury.
The loss of the midfielder, however, cannot be underestimated: without him in the last four meetings, Chelsea scored only two goals.
Real Madrid, which is not inferior in 17 games in a row in all tournaments, can turn even the minimal staffing difficulties of an opponent into its own good - just remember the quarter-finals of the Spaniards against Liverpool.
However, the last stage of the tournament Zinedine Zidane suggests to forget as soon as possible: “It will be a difficult, different match. Chelsea also have a lot of experience at this level. There is only a month left until the end of the season, and we will fight to the end. Of course, we have problems, but all teams face them without exception. The desire to step onto the pitch and show what we are capable of motivates us. "