The defending champion meets a club in crisis

Real Madrid is one of the big favorites for the Champions League title again this year. The reigning champions meet Chelsea in the quarter-finals. The Blues could win the premier class in 2021. The last two winners meet each other. The royals are the clear favorites, after all, the guests are in a real crisis.

Real Madrid is the clear favorite to reach the semi-finals in the quarter-finals duel against Chelsea. Although the hosts are having a hard time in the league this year and will probably miss the championship title, they are among the big favorites for the title in the Champions League. Since 2016, they have emerged from this competition as champions four times. This was also the case last season when they beat Liverpool FC in the final. 

This year they meet an English team again in the quarterfinals. Chelsea may be the 2021 champions but they are struggling this season. After another change of coach, Frank Lampard is now on the sidelines. However, his start was far from good, which is why a victory in Madrid arguably equals a sensation.

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Real Madrid have been struggling with their consistency

The Royals still have the chance of two titles this year. In addition to the Champions League, they are also represented in the Spanish Cup and are even in the final there. They owe that to an outstanding performance against Barcelona. After losing the first leg 2-1, they celebrated a 0-4 away win in Barcelona in the second leg. It was one of those games where Real Madrid could show their quality and are arguably the best team in the world. 

Only a few days later, however, they had to admit defeat in the league in the top game against Villarreal at home with 2-3. For the royals it was already the 6th defeat in 2023. FC Barcelona had to admit defeat in 3 games alone.

The team can still secure the title in the Champions League and in the Cup this year. In the league, the championship title is probably gone. After 28 matchdays they are already 13 points behind FC Barcelona. They  just weren't consistent enough this season. In addition to 18 wins, a total of 10 league games were not won. 5 of them ended in a draw and another 5 were lost. After all, the royals have the best offensive in the Primera Division with 59 goals. The two attacking stars Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior played a large part in this. In total, these two have already scored 23 goals. They scored 34 of the 59 goals at home at the Santiago Bernabeu. In 14 home games they only lost once there. However, they were able to win 9 of 14 home games.

Even if things don't go according to plan in the league, the team in the premier class usually knows how to convince. Already in the group phase they showed good performances and finally secured the group victory ahead of RB Leipzig. They won 4 out of 6 group games and only had to admit defeat once.With 15 goals, they were already among the strongest offensive teams here. This was only further confirmed in the round of 16, because there they celebrated a 2-5 away win at last year's finalists Liverpool FC. At the home game, a tight 1-0 was enough for the quarter-finals. Real has managed to score in every Champions League game so far. In 3 out of 4 home games they were at least twice as successful. 

With Karim Benzema, Real Madrid have one of the most successful center forwards of the last 10 years. Together with his strike partner Vinicius Junior, he has formed one of the best offensive duos in the world for several years. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are still pulling the strings in midfield. Behind them, however, two youngsters, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga, are already scratching their hooves. One player who has become one of the best in the world in recent years is Federico Valverde. This can hold almost any position on the field and often takes 3rd place on offense. David Alaba recently returned on the defensive. This was also used in the 2-3 draw against FC Villarreal last weekend.

Chelsea are the clear underdogs

Frank Lampard is Chelsea's third coach this season. The Englishman is to take over the team on an interim basis until the end of the season. There is no realistic chance of a title because they are 11th in the league and progressing against Real Madrid in the Champions League would be a sensation. There is a feeling that the club is going in the completely wrong direction. After Thomas Tuchel came Graham Potter, a coach who has only shown up in the Premier League so far, and now Frank Lampard is a coach on the sidelines who was last fired at Everton, who were in danger of relegation. This should now bring the offensive going. In the Premier League, the club has now played more games than scored goals. It didn't get any better in the first game under Lampard either, because Wolverhampton had to admit defeat 1-0 away.

The team probably showed its best performances this season in the premier class. There they survived a very difficult group with AC Milan and Red Bull Salzburg as group winners. After a difficult start, 4 group games were won in a row and in the end they had a strong goal difference of 10:4 goals.Here, too, one has primarily convinced with a good defensive. This was no different in the round of 16. After a 1:0 defeat in the first leg against Dortmund, the game could still be turned at home with a 2:0 win. For Chelsea it was the 3rd game in the Champions League that ended without conceding a goal. It was also the 5th game to end with less than 2.5 goals. 

The Blues are only 11th in the Premier League after 30 matchdays!The record is now negative and stands at 10 wins, 9 draws and 11 defeats. The same applies to the goal ratio, which is 29:30 goals. While this is a very good value defensively, fewer goals have been scored than games played. Chelsea does not even manage to score 1.00 goals per game. They last won against Leicester City on March 11th. Since then they went 4 games in a row without a win and only got 2 points in this period. The team hasn't scored in 3 games. Away they have only won 4 in 15 games so far. The majority of away games were lost with 7 defeats. Again, with only 13 goals in 15 games, they have to struggle with the offensive.

Chelsea are still missing a real goal-getter this year. With just 7 goals, Kai Havertz is the top scorer in the team. The newcomers Raheem Sterling, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Joao Felix have so far fallen far short of expectations. In the Champions League, the club also has to do without some players. Aubameyang, Fofana and Madueke are all not registered for the Champions League. Two other players, Armando Broja and Mason Mount, are likely to miss the game through injury. Thiago Silva, an experienced man, will be missing on the defensive. They are still in a good position here. Both Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana are among the best players in recent weeks.

Real Madrid - Chelsea: What to expect? 

Real Madrid may not be having an outstanding season and are also struggling with consistency, but they should still be able to win against Chelsea at home. The Blues are simply having a bad season and in Frank Lampard they have their 3rd coach on the touchline this season. Our preferred bet recommendation is therefore a simple Tip 1 on Real Madrid. The defense of the guests is mostly good. The goal of the English club must also be to keep the zero for as long as possible. A tip for less than 2.5 goals is therefore also realistic.

• Real Madrid to win
• Under 2.5

* All odds and markets are correct at time of publication and subject to change.