Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku is one of four players unavailable to face Real Madrid tomorrow in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Blues travel to Spain for Tuesday night’s showdown at the Bernabeu against Madrid.
Unfortunately, Tuchel’s side have it all to do after losing 3-1 to them in the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea manager Tuchel has given an update on the team’s injuries in his pre-match press conference on Monday morning.
First of all, 28-year-old striker Lukaku remains sidelined through injury with an Achilles problem that saw him miss the weekend’s win against Southampton. He won’t be travelling with the Blues squad, so you’d expect in-form Kai Havertz to start in attack once again.
In addition, squad player Ross Barkley has been ruled out through illness. Callum Hudson-Odoi and long-term injury absentee Ben Chilwell are the other unavailable players.
“The injury situation is Callum Hudson-Odoi is still out. Ben Chilwell, of course, still out. Romelu will not travel with us due to his pain in the Achilles. Azpi is in the group, he’s tested several times negative. Ross Barkley is sick and will not travel. Everyone else is in the squad,” Tuchel said.
One big Chelsea boost
It’s a big shame for Lukaku that he’s not in contention tomorrow, especially because Chelsea trail 3-1 on aggregate and perhaps Tuchel will be adventurous in his line-up.
However, it’s great to hear this morning that club captain Cesar Azpilicueta has returned to the group.
He missed the 6-0 Southampton victory after contracting Covid-19, but Tuchel’s confirmed his return to the squad.
The Chelsea Chronicle has made a predicted line-up ahead of the Madrid showdown.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.