8 minutes ago, Snedger said:

This does not mean I hope to lose tomorrow, but I’d rather lose to Madrid in the semi than to an English club in the final. And hand on heart, I don’t see us beating City again. This means a lot more to them than the FA cup and they are in all honesty a stronger outfit than us.

Agreed on both counts.

10 minutes ago, Snedger said:

This does not mean I hope to lose tomorrow, but I’d rather lose to Madrid in the semi than to an English club in the final. And hand on heart, I don’t see us beating City again. This means a lot more to them than the FA cup and they are in all honesty a stronger outfit than us.

Pep's Barcelona and Bayern were stronger outfits in 2012 but how that worked out for them? 

On the other note, ESPN pundits are not giving much chance to Chelsea tomorrow.

Edited May 4, 20215 yr by rocker_joker

4 minutes ago, rocker_joker said:

Pep's Barcelona and Bayern were stronger outfits in 2012 but how that worked out for them? 

On the other note, ESPN pundits are not giving much chance to Chelsea tomorrow.

True, but sometimes your name is on it, and this year I feel that City are long due their inevitable victory. That’s just how I feel. However, I’m fairly sure that our players and coaches don’t all feel the same, and luckily it’s them playing, and not me.

15 minutes ago, Snedger said:

This does not mean I hope to lose tomorrow, but I’d rather lose to Madrid in the semi than to an English club in the final. And hand on heart, I don’t see us beating City again. This means a lot more to them than the FA cup and they are in all honesty a stronger outfit than us.

Bayern was a stronger outfit than us but we still won. Keep the faith

7 minutes ago, rocker_joker said:

Pep's Barcelona and Bayern were stronger outfits in 2012 but how that worked out for them? 

On the other note, ESPN pundits are not giving much chance to Chelsea tomorrow.

Well if the ESPN is saying that we must take a look if Jiminy Cricket will be able to sleep tonight

Seems like he made it...

Based off what I said in the kova thread here's my predicted 11

Mason on the bench to cover Jorgeeh or Kante, also to give him a rest since he took a knock and played back to back 90 mins. Without Kova in the squad I think we need another cm on the bench other than Billy.

 

          Mendy

 

Andreas, Silva, Rudi

 

Azpil, Jorginho, Kante, Ben

Pulisic, Havertz, Timo

 I think we go with the false 9 no striker for the cbs to mark. I think Werner keeps their defense on their toes with Pulisic and Kai making ghost runs throughout the game. James has the potential to start at wb and Azpik drops to rcb.

 

 

34 minutes ago, Snedger said:

This does not mean I hope to lose tomorrow, but I’d rather lose to Madrid in the semi than to an English club in the final. And hand on heart, I don’t see us beating City again. This means a lot more to them than the FA cup and they are in all honesty a stronger outfit than us.

Its worth the risk and just imagine how good it will feel to beat an English club in the final.

25 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Based off what I said in the kova thread here's my predicted 11

Mason on the bench to cover Jorgeeh or Kante, also to give him a rest since he took a knock and played back to back 90 mins. Without Kova in the squad I think we need another cm on the bench other than Billy.

 

          Mendy

 

Andreas, Silva, Rudi

 

Azpil, Jorginho, Kante, Ben

Pulisic, Havertz, Timo

 I think we go with the false 9 no striker for the cbs to mark. I think Werner keeps their defense on their toes with Pulisic and Kai making ghost runs throughout the game. James has the potential to start at wb and Azpik drops to rcb.

 

 

 

Werner can play as the false 9 too if his first touch doesn't disappoint or am I wrong here? Just thinking that it would be a hard decision to drop Mount, he's like the engine of the team and it's the biggest game of the season so far... Though I would be happy to see Kai starting, it just seems like it's hard to drop Pulisic or Werner just as well as Mount.

It was interesting that Real Madrid changed their own formation during the second half and since we scored early one when they had the 3 at the back as well they might just start with a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 or however they actually ended the first leg. In that case having Mount, Timo and Pulisic rotating around a bit in a similar fashion to how Foden and KDB do could do the trick.

4 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

 

Werner can play as the false 9 too if his first touch doesn't disappoint or am I wrong here? Just thinking that it would be a hard decision to drop Mount, he's like the engine of the team and it's the biggest game of the season so far... Though I would be happy to see Kai starting, it just seems like it's hard to drop Pulisic or Werner just as well as Mount.

It was interesting that Real Madrid changed their own formation during the second half and since we scored early one when they had the 3 at the back as well they might just start with a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 or however they actually ended the first leg. In that case having Mount, Timo and Pulisic rotating around a bit in a similar fashion to how Foden and KDB do could do the trick.

Mason could very much start, I just feel like we need an impact player for the midfield when our players tire. I don't see Ziyech or Kai coming in to the pivot.

50 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Based off what I said in the kova thread here's my predicted 11

Mason on the bench to cover Jorgeeh or Kante, also to give him a rest since he took a knock and played back to back 90 mins. Without Kova in the squad I think we need another cm on the bench other than Billy.

 

          Mendy

 

Andreas, Silva, Rudi

 

Azpil, Jorginho, Kante, Ben

Pulisic, Havertz, Timo

 I think we go with the false 9 no striker for the cbs to mark. I think Werner keeps their defense on their toes with Pulisic and Kai making ghost runs throughout the game. James has the potential to start at wb and Azpik drops to rcb.

 

 

No way Tuchel benches Mount. NO CHANCE IN HELL. We will need him to help out Kante and Jorginho against REAL"s Midfield 3. I just hope Kai doesnt start. if he starts i see Real scoring first and ending the tie. We need the same front 3 as the first leg but hopefully they are fitter this time around and can last more than 60 mins of Intense Running

I feel like if we start with Kai as a false 9 the intensity of the game will be slow because we all know Kai likes to play at his pace and this will suit Real Madrid . We need to play like an aggressive Premiership team with Speed and Physicality to expose Reals OLD LEGS

Edited May 4, 20215 yr by The Don Antonio

Seeing a fair bit of speculation that our only change from the first leg is Kai in for Mount and we switch to a false 9.

 

Mendy

 

Christensen

Silva

Rudiger

 

Dave

Jorgi

Kante

Chilwell

 

Pulisic

Havertz 

Werner

 

This seems to be what a few are hinting out. 

The concerning element of a potential final with City is the storyline and hunger for me, Pep has been building to this, their players (the core) have been together a long time and it’s their first final. Our key players now don’t have the back story or build up going for them, we’re fairly new/young; would almost feel accidental and pieced together. The one positive, hunger wise is that we have Thiago SIlva who is desperate to win and Azpi who must be itching at the opportunity almost 10 years into his stint. 

All these comments about rather losing to Madrid than City are dumb. Support our club - let's beat Madrid and then see what happens in Istanbul. And by my count, Pep still owes us a Champions League after he and UEFA colluded and stole it from us in 2009 so I feel good about that match anyway.

Well I will say this now in case am too busy at work tomorrow to say it then. 

Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the occasion tomorrow.

Whether you go in confident of victory, certain of defeat, deflated at the thought of Pep winning the CL again or excited about stopping him, or somewhere in between all that, CL semi finals have been hard to come by for us.

So please enjoy the occasion against a true giant of the game.

A little shocked that people would rather lose to Real Madrid than lose to Manchester City.

We have to go for it. Knockout competitions can produce surprises, and 2012 demonstrates that the unexpected can happen.

Just imagine the prospect of beating Manchester City and Pep in the final. I reckon it would break them mentally.

Edited May 5, 20215 yr by Jezz

If I'm being honest I don't really fear this City team in the finals. If we get there we have just as much right to be there and win it as they do. If you compare this City team to some of the past UCL finalists and winners from the past 20 years or so their pretty good. But, I would argue not even in the top 5 if you ask me. We've beaten harder teams I think it would be a very open final personally.

In fact its funny we have to play Zidane to get to Pep since I would argue at least as far as modern football goes these two built the best continental dynasty teams in the past 10-12 years. Pep's Barca was a thing of beauty. Those 4 years were insane not just what they accomplished title wise but also stylistically through performances on the pitch.

Zidane is a curious one, no one can doubt a 3pete is anything but spectacular yet there is a small feeling that maybe it wasn't so much his coaching but his ability to control big dressing room egos. Some even say he's a fraud without Ronaldo. Extreme perhaps, or perhaps not whilst he did win the league last year he hasn't looked the same in the UCL.

Yet there remains the core of that team which won an unprecedented 3 UCL in a row. Minus Ronaldo they have Eden which isn't a bad replacement. He may be injury prone recently but having a player of that quality in your squad is essential for this level. Not to mention Benzema, Kross, Casemiro, Ramos, Marcelo, Modric, Tibo and so on aren't just nobodies but world class athletes.

As far as I'm concerned Zidane has earned the right to be recognised as a world class manager and his team whilst not as youthful as in the past still remain a superpower in the world of football. The fact that we stood toe to toe with them on their turf shows we deserve to be here at this level.

The only question left is can we maintain this and can we push further to a higher plateau. Under TT I think we are constantly improving. It's important to play as many high level games as possible to get used to this level. It will be essential to maintain the consistency for a title run next season against the relentless Man city and Liverpool.

If ever there was a chance to win the champions league again it is now. We have the manager, we have the squad its just a shame fans aren't allowed in the stadium what an occasion and atmosphere it would be.

 

COME ON CHELSEA!!!  Brave performance - time for this generation to become serial winners.

Sorry i must do this....MY PREDICTIONS ARE ALWAYS WRONG...i predict 1 2 real madrid....

Match Day !

Come On Chelsea !!
 

 

5:30am wake up - don't need to wake up until 7:30. Too excited to sleep. Come on you blues!

6 hours ago, Term_X said:

The concerning element of a potential final with City is the storyline and hunger for me, Pep has been building to this, their players (the core) have been together a long time and it’s their first final. Our key players now don’t have the back story or build up going for them, we’re fairly new/young; would almost feel accidental and pieced together. The one positive, hunger wise is that we have Thiago SIlva who is desperate to win and Azpi who must be itching at the opportunity almost 10 years into his stint. 

Thiago Silva is one of the greatest centre backs football has ever seen. It’s a travesty he never won the champions league, maybe it’s destiny he’s going to win it here?

We have to knock Real Madrid out first, to be honest I’m not really looking forward to the game tonight, it’s going to be ugly as f*ck, Real will do everything they can including dark arts.

8 hours ago, rocker_joker said:

Pep's Barcelona and Bayern were stronger outfits in 2012 but how that worked out for them? 

On the other note, ESPN pundits are not giving much chance to Chelsea tomorrow.

That’s alright then I thought you were going to say someone who had a clue about football said it.  
 

Bookies have us as favourites btw. 

4 hours ago, Jezz said:

A little shocked that people would rather lose to Real Madrid than lose to Manchester City.

We have to go for it. Knockout competitions can produce surprises, and 2012 demonstrates that the unexpected can happen.

Just imagine the prospect of beating Manchester City and Pep in the final. I reckon it would break them mentally.

Weird mentality I don’t get it either, you're not going to win a final if you're not in it.

I want to go as far as we can for as long as we can and I personally despise losing to Spanish clubs. 
 

I think we can beat city on a good day, and I’ll tell you what I can guarantee you they would rather play Real than us. 

If I hadn't known what living between hope and fear means, today would have taught me...

Come on Chelsea 

Rushing Sergio Ramos back could work in our favour, historically this doesn’t tend to work out well, like Spurs using Kane in the CL Final, post-injury you need that time to get match sharpness.