LONDON, April 5: Chelsea is attempting to retain the title to the backdrop of an off-field crisis. Chelsea is for sale after its billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, was sanctioned by the British government for his close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.
Chelsea’s future is up in the air – the preferred new owner should be known sometime this month – and the players have been doing their best to keep their focus on the field, with back-to-back wins over Lille in the last 16 achieved with the minimum of fuss.
Indeed, Chelsea has lost only once amid all the unrelenting takeover talk – to Brentford on Saturday.
Real Madrid will provide a much tougher challenge than Lille, though.
The 13-time European champion lost to Chelsea in the semifinals last season, when it still couldn’t play at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium because of renovation work and the coronavirus pandemic.
Karim Benzema, who led Madrid to a historic comeback victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16, remains red hot after scoring both goals for the club in a win over Celta Vigo on Saturday to solidify the team’s lead in La Liga.
Villareal vs Bayern Munich
Well on its way to a 10th consecutive Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich hopes to crown the season with its seventh European title and its second in three years. It’s Bayern record 20th quarterfinal.
The Bavarian powerhouse is already eyeing the semifinals as it would be a major surprise if Villarreal, currently seventh in Spain, was to stop the German side’s progress. The teams met before in the group phase in 2011, when Bayern won both games by a combined score of 5-1.
Julian Nagelsmann’s team warmed up for Wednesday’s visit to Spain’s east coast with a 4-1 win at high-flying Freiburg – the second consecutive game in which it scored four goals – while Unai Emery’s Villarreal slumped to its second consecutive Liga defeat at second-to-last Levante after losing to Cádiz in its previous game.
Emery didn’t rest many of his regular starters. Villarreal, which won the Europa League last season, is trying to return to the Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2006.
Matches will be played on Wednesday at 12:30 am IST. (AP)
