Chelsea vs Real Madrid - Match preview

[Barbara 15,149]

Chelsea will play Real Madrid in the International Champions final this Wednesday.

It’s a rare event when Chelsea face the Spanish force from Madrid - in official matches, it has only happened three times! Tomorrow the two giants will play each other again, and even if it’s only a friendly it might be more than usual the pre-season game. The match is going to be played in ungodly hours in Europe – 2am UK time (9pm local time) – but still many fans will probably lose part of their sleep during a weekday to see the clash between José Mourinho against his former team – the same being true to Carlo Ancelotti against Chelsea.

Yet whilst Ancelotti left Chelsea over two years ago, the Portuguese has only just left the Spanish side and his exit was surrounded by locker room issues, media wars and mixed feelings between Real Madrid fans. It’s fair to say nobody knows this Real Madrid squad better than the Blues manager. Except for the new signings arriving this summer, Mourinho has worked with that squad for the past three seasons.

The Special One said he’ll keep the strategy used so far in Chelsea’s pre-season which means he’ll use a different team for each half of the match. So fans expecting to see Chelsea on full throttle may have to wait until the last pre-season match – against Roma next Saturday – or even the Premier League debut against Hull City on August 18.

The Opposition

Chelsea have done well against Spanish teams in official matches (W15, D11, L9). As aforementioned, Real Madrid have been managed by José Mourinho for the last three seasons, giving the Portuguese an advantage. But Carlo Ancelotti has already been changing the philosophy and style left by the Portuguese, and even though Mourinho knows most of the players, they may present something different to Chelsea. Ancelotti is invested in recovering Kaká – who was mostly overlooked by José – and has used the Brazilian in both matches for the International Champions Cup.

Madrid have hardly operated under the radar this summer; bringing in players such as attacking midfielder Isco, defender Daniel Carbajal and defensive midfielder Asier Illarramendi. Isco has done remarkably well in previous matches - in particular against LA Galaxy - but against Premier League opposition in Everton (whom Madrid faced earlier on in the competition), he hardly set the world alight.

Ancelotti’s team is more focused on ball retention and possession than Mourinho's counter-attacking ploy, yet with di María’s speed, Özil’s and Isco’s assists and Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals, they will no doubt prove lethal should they break at any opposition. It’s going to be a good test for Chelsea’s defence, but Real Madrid should feel the same way about Blues’ attacking force with Kevin de Bruyne, Mata, Hazard, Moses, Oscar, Schürrle, Lukaku, Ba and Torres.

The Teams

Chelsea

• Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Mark Schwarzer, Henrique Hilário
• Defenders: Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Gary Cahill, John Terry, César Azpilicueta, Ryan Bertrand
• Midfielders: Michael Essien, Ramires, Frank Lampard, Juan Mata, Oscar, John Obi Mikel, Kevin De Bruyne, Marco van Ginkel, Eden Hazard, Victor Moses, André Schürrle
• Strikers: Fernando Torres, Romelu Lukaku, Demba Ba
• Manager: José Mourinho
• Expected formation: 4-2-3-1

Real Madrid

• Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, Diego Lopez, Jesús Collado
• Defenders: Pepe, Sergio Ramos, David Mateos, Marcelo, Fábio Coentrão, Álvaro Arbeloa, Daniel Carbajal, Nacho Fernández
• Midfielders: Luka Modric, Sami Khedira, Mesut Özil, Isco, Kaká, Casemiro, Ángel di María, Alex
• Strikers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Álvaro Morata, Jesé Rodríguez, Denis Cheryshev
• Expected formation: 4-2-3-1

Facts and Stats

• Chelsea leads the head to head with two wins and a draw.
• Every time the teams faced each other there was a trophy at stake - with Chelsea grabbing it in the first two occasions (UEFA Super Cup 1997/98; UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup 1970/71).
• Both managers have already trained the opposition previously, both winning the national league once.
• Real Madrid ended second to Barcelona in La Liga last season and reached the last four of the Champions League - whilst Chelsea won the Europa League and finished third in the league behind the Manchester clubs.
• All matches played between the teams were tight with one goal advantage (1-0 or 2-1), as well as a goalless draw.
• Last time the teams faced each other Chelsea won 1-0, in 1998.

Odds

Madrid: Evens

Chelsea: 21/10

Draw: 5/2

TV Coverage

The game will be Chelsea TV in England, Fox Sport in the US and Al Jazeera in the Middle East. There will be a match feed provided by TalkChelsea's official twitter account.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Great work Barbara

[DoubleO 192]

should be an interesting one

[cripji 16]

Either 2 or 3am in Nigeria. Tough ones for the fans here. Wil definately watch it.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Either 2 or 3am in Nigeria. Tough ones for the fans here. Wil definately watch it.

It's 4 am here which practically means no sleep tonight

The things we do for the love of Chelsea..

[cripji 16]

Sure. I hope our sleepness night will be rewarded with a win.