Date: Tuesday 13th
April 2021
Venue: Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán
Kick-off: 20:00 BST
We’ve
bounced back from the battering West Brom gave us, to beat Porto in the Champions
League quarter-final first leg ‘away’ and we added goals to our game, in some
style, against Crystal Palace at the weekend. Tonight though, it’s back to
Seville for the second leg of the Champions League quarter final and we can
expect a tougher game of it.
Porto have
lost five and drawn two of their last seven against English sides, they’ve
also managed to come through just one in 20 Champions League knockout ties away
from home. The Portuguese side scored twice in their
win against Tondela at the weekend though and
will come to score goals tonight.
Chelsea are
unbeaten in nine in the Champions League and have lost just one game in their
last 17 in all competitions, it’s just unfortunate the tie is in Seville
because Chelsea have never managed to win three European matches in a row in
Spain.
Our win
against Porto in the first leg made it six from nine meetings, it also put us within
touching distance of the semi-finals, so if we don’t come out of this with a
seventh win and a place in the semi-finals, we’ll need our backsides kicking.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going into today’s game Thomas Tuchel, says
“We have to accept against Porto that the game
will be up and down. In some instances we controlled the match, created half
chances, good counter-pressing but then in some minutes they escaped the pressure.
Sometimes they overload sides and give you a lot of questions. In the first leg
we experienced ups and downs, then the momentum shifted, this is what you have
to accept against them.
I think in
terms of adapting it is easier for Porto because they know they need to score
three goals. For them it is absolutely clear. We will not change the approach
because of the result last week.”
Porto manager, Sergio Conceicao, meanwhile, says “We need to
be cohesive and compact. We also need to score and not suffer, that has to be
our match strategy.it’s not with lots of forward players
that we attack more or with more defenders that we defend better. We have to score. Be well balanced at
different times of the match, but most of all we have to score. One goal at a
time because we can’t score two at the same time. But that calm and serious way of thinking,
knowing what we have ahead of us is important without being too anxious. We
just have to focus on the work and not the final result, because we have to
work to reach the end result, to achieve our goal.
We are confident. We know that we face a difficult task, but we are here
to give the answer that we have to give.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Chelsea, Thiago Silva served his domestic suspension on Saturday and should be
fit, along with N’Golo Kante, who has overcome a hamstring injury.
For Porto, Diogo
Costa, Ivan Marcano and Mouhamed Mbaye are expected to miss out, whilst Taremi
and Sergio Oliveira back to the squad after their suspensions in the first leg.
TEAMS
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Christensen; James, Kovacic, Kante, Alonso;
Ziyech, Mount; Werner
PORTO (Possible
line-up): Marchesin; Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Sanusi; Corona,
Uribe, Oliveira, Otavio; Marega, Taremi
CL FORM
CHELSEA: WWDWWW
PORTO: WDWWLL
OTHER STUFF
- Chelsea have won the first leg of a Champions
League knockout tie for the 11th time, progressing on eight of the previous 10
occasions
- Chelsea have won each of their last two matches in
European competition that were held in Spain
- Chelsea have never won three consecutive European
matches held in Spain.
- After beating Leicester City 5-0 in the group
stages of this competition in December 2016, Porto are winless in their
following seven matches against English sides in the Champions League
- Chelsea are unbeaten in the Champions League this
season
- Chelsea have kept seven clean sheets in nine
Champions League matches this season
- Porto have won only one of their 20 Champions
League knockout stage matches as the away side
PREDICTION
Sportsmole: Chelsea 2-1 Porto
