Chelsea expected XI against Real Madrid: Romelu Lukaku benched and big N’Golo Kante call made

Thomas Tuchel will lead his Chelsea side against Real Madrid hoping for another memorable European night at the Bridge on Wednesday night.

Tuchel made history by taking over the Blues half way through last season and diligentlyly leading them to defy all odds and win the Champions League despite being outsiders at the time.

Coincidentally, they beat Real Madrid at the semi-final stage on their way to the title last season and there is no limit to the psychological advantage a win against Real Madrid will give to the English side if they pull it through.

The Blues go into the game on the back of a surprising 4-1 defeat to Brentford, the performance and scoreline  was a shock to almost every Chelsea fan, given they had been spotless since the topic of the club’s sale became public.

But as has been the case since Thomas Tuchel took over, setbacks are often the foundation on which success has been, evidenced by their defeat in the FA Cup last season that served as an awakening that led them to the Champions League title in Porto against heavily fancied Manchester City.

On the injury front, Thomas Tuchel will have most of his big names available, although they still continue to miss flying left back Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson Odoi did not train with a suspected back and achilles problem.

The last time Real Madrid visited Stamford Bridge, they lost 2-0 and even the Spanish giants have significant progress under Carlo Ancelotti this season, there is a feeling that the Blues are still huge favourites for this one.

So with everything pointing to a very close game, here is how we expect Chelsea to line-up.