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Football London
Football London
Sport
Adam Newson

The small advantage Chelsea have been given ahead Champions League second leg vs Real Madrid

Chelsea are just 90 minutes away from reaching only the third Champions League final in their history. It sounds somewhat simple when said like that.

Of course, it is anything but for Thomas Tuchel and his players. Next Wednesday, the Blues will welcome Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their semi-final tie.

Chelsea have the edge, albeit a small one. They claimed a 1-1 draw in the first leg between the two sides, with Christian Pulisic scoring a vital away goal. And were it not for some poor finishing, the situation may have been even better.

There is no time to dwell on that, however. Tuchel certainly won't, as he explained to reporters after last night's game in Madrid.

"Sometimes if you have such a good half an hour as we had, with chances and half chances, you wish for more composure and more precision in the decision making and finishing itself," the German coach said after the game.

"It was not like this so the challenge was more to not worry too long, regret too long, not lose confidence. We did this in the second half and defended very, very well."

He added: "Next week we have to face another challenge against Real Madrid, it will be another tough one because it is the Champions League semi-final, nothing is sure.

"It is half time and we need to fight for every centimetre and advantage that we want to have, we need to fight and to deserve it."

Tuchel's immediate thoughts will turn to Fulham. Chelsea welcome their west London neighbours to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a match that could prove pivotal in the Blues' hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Tuchel's side currently sit in fourth, three points ahead of fifth-placed West Ham and with a far better goal difference.

Changes are expected to be made to the starting XI against the relegation-threatened Cottagers, with the likes of Reece James, Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi all pushing for starts.

Rotation would ensure Chelsea are fresh heading into the second leg against Madrid. And they have another slight advantage over the La Liga giants in that respect.

Chelsea's clash with Fulham will be all over by 7.30pm on Saturday evening. Real Madrid's game with Osasuna, however, will not even have kicked off.

Los Blancos will not finish their match until around 10pm UK time, and there is far more riding on it given they are two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid. They need to claim victory and so Zinedine Zidane can't make the wholesale changes.

These are the small details that can often make the biggest difference and Tuchel admitted after the first leg his Chelsea's players became weary as the game progressed.

"We suffered physically because we only had two days in between," he said.

That will not be the case ahead of the second leg. The Blues will be fresher than Real Madrid, equally as motivated, and on the verge of a momentous achievement. It's all down to that 90 minutes.

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