Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed that he prefers to face Real Madrid ahead of Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final, after seeing his own team reach the last four on Tuesday night by holding on to a combined lead against Porto.
Mehdi Taremi spectacularly scored the only goal of the second leg, played on neutral ground in Spain as a result of coronavirus restrictions, but the stoppage time was not enough to hurt Chelsea after beating Porto 2-0 in the first leg.
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With the knockout bracket already predetermined and the semi-final draw being made at the same time as the quarter-final draw last month, Chelsea know that their opponents in the next round are either Real Madrid or Liverpool, depending on which club prevails on Wednesday night.
Real have a 3-1 lead over Liverpool from the first leg and Tuchel has said he prefers it if Chelsea’s semi-final is against Los Blancos, largely for diversity and to remain more in the true spirit of an international competition. .
Chelsea have already played Liverpool twice this season and the two sides have met on three occasions in each of the two previous promotions thanks to additional cup matches.
“In general, I like not to play against teams from the same league in the Champions League because it gives more of a feeling of a European competition but that is the only thing,” said Tuchel, quoted by the Daily Mail.
Tuchel would rather Chelsea play Real Madrid next | Soccrates Images / Getty Images
“The game [between Liverpool and Real] is far from over but I will see it for sure. Everything is possible. Liverpool are very strong at home so we take what we get. This is a good situation for us. ”
Normally, Liverpool could have been hopeful of being able to turn around the total deficit at Anfield, especially after ending an even bigger comeback against Barcelona in 2019. But Jurgen Klopp admitted last week that it will be a completely different task without fans.
This season is only the second time Chelsea have reached the Champions League semi-finals since the Blues famously lifted the trophy in 2012. Their last trip to this stage ended in defeat to Atletico Madrid in 2014.
Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Liverpool are facing a difficult task Soccrates Images / Getty Images
Chelsea previously reached at least the semi-finals of five seasons out of six in the 2000s, led by Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant.
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