Chelsea vs. Real Madrid Prediction – Champions League Quarterfinals (Wednesday, April 6)

Wednesday, April 6 is when we’ll see a clash between the reigning Champions League champion and a team that’s won the UCL title 13 times. What I’m talking about is the Chelsea vs. Real Madrid quarterfinal game.

Played at Stamford Bridge in London, the game should be a real barnburner. Oddsmakers are giving advantage to Chelsea, but I think no one should be surprised if the match finishes in Real Madrid’s favor. To learn more about it, as well as see my UCL predictions, all you got to do is keep reading!

I’ve compared the Champions League odds at several betting sites, and it seems that 10Bet is giving the best ones. You can see them in the list above.

Oddsmakers obviously think this is going to be a close match, although they’re giving a slight advantage to Chelsea. I can think of several reasons why that’s the case – the game is played in London, Real Madrid’s manager is struggling with the coronavirus, and so on.

Still, the fact that Chelsea is having issues both on and off the pitch makes me think bookmakers might be wrong.

It’s been an intense couple of weeks for Chelsea. First, Roman Abramovich stepped down as Chelsea owner after nearly two decades. With him being sanctioned by the UK Government for his ties with Vladimir Putin, the financial future of the club became grim.

Abramovich did put the club up for sale, but until that happens, Chelsea cannot sign new players, nor renew existing contracts. What this means is that the team captain Caesar Azpilicueta could leave the club on a free transfer, together with a couple of other players.

As if that wasn’t enough, rumors started spreading about Romelu Lukaku yearning to leave Stamford Bridge. The story goes that the striker wants to move to PSG only a year after Chelsea spend a record-breaking $126 million on his signature.

Further, there could be some problems regarding another Chelsea striker. As reported by Daily Mail , the German international still hasn’t adapted to life in England.

All things considered, it’s really impressive that Chelsea’s lost just one of the previous seven games in all competitions. What’s not impressive is that it happened against Brentford last Saturday.

It’s not an overstatement to say that the Blues got humiliated last weekend. They got obliterated by Brentford 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. That was only their second home loss in the 2021-22 campaign.

The most embarrassing fact is that the team that beat them is playing its maiden season in the English top-flight. The Premier League newcomer has a roster that’s valued at $253 million, which is 3.5 times less than the value of Chelsea.

If Chelsea failed against Brentford, what can we expect from the Blues against mighty Real?

Real Madrid is sitting at the top of Spanish La Liga with 12 points more than second-placed Barcelona. With eight more games left for Los Blancos to play in the domestic league, it seems that the trophy is not far away.

Thanks to the comfortable lead in La Liga, Real Madrid has the luxury to turn its focus entirely to the Champions League quarterfinal. The first leg of the doubleheader with Chelsea is played tomorrow; the second leg is on the program next Tuesday. In-between those two games is a La Liga game with Getafe, a team from near the bottom of the table.

Knowing this, you can be sure that Los Blancos will go all-in in the UCL quarterfinal. However, their game strategy in leg 1 is likely to differ from their leg 2 tactics. In the first game, I expect Real Madrid to focus on defending.

The reason I think this is that I’m familiar with the work of Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. The 62-year-old Italian is generally considered one of the best soccer managers in the world in 2022, with plenty of trophies won in his 30-years-long managerial career.

COPE: Carlo Ancelotti is still Covid positive. The Italian will have another PCR test today to determine whether he can travel with the team tomorrow or on Wednesday. ?? pic.twitter.com/SdPtyxfMd3

— Real Madrid News (@onlyrmcfnews) April 4, 2022

Although Ancelotti didn’t travel with the team to England due to testing positive for COVID-19 last week, the chances are he will make it on time to be with his boys. But what if he tests positive again? Then it’s going to be his son Davide Ancelotti who’s going to lead Los Blancos.

The 32-year-old made his managerial debut last weekend in Real Madrid’s game with Celta, in which we saw Los Blancos playing cautiously but still managing to get a 2-1 win.

Regardless of which Ancelotti will be in charge on Wednesday, I expect Real Madrid to play cautiously. After all, not losing is what’s most important for this team.

The reason for this is that in just six days, they’ll play against Chelsea on their own turf. At Santiago Bernabeu, Los Blancos have lost only twice during the 2021-22 campaign.

Chelsea players know this, which is why they’ll try to get a win at home. The trouble is that breaking Real’s defense isn’t easy, especially considering that Chelsea’s strikers aren’t playing their best soccer at the moment.

That said, I think a draw is the most likely outcome, with “under 2.5 goals” also looking like a good UCL betting pick. If you think so too, why not head over to 10Bet now and get some skin in the game?