Champions League

Chelsea host Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge tonight. It's a huge game between two elite sides; the reigning European champions against the most successful ...

One such factor according to Diario AS is the fact that Ramadan began on April first. He was in a fasted state last season when Madrid beat Liverpool. Benzema, however, has said that he doesn’t notice a decrease in performance when he’s fasted and has said it’s important to him.

Minute-by-minute report: Join Barry Glendenning for updates as Chelsea look to repeat last season's success over the 13-times European Cup winners.

Chelsea host Real Madrid in the first leg of a mouthwatering quarter-final match-up that is nigh on impossible to call. The occasion is special and the opponent is special. Christian Pulisic is back in contention for a place in the starting line-up after being rested over the weekend following his late return from international duty with the USA. Ruben Loftus-Cheek may make way from the side that lost against Brentford for Mateo Kovacic or Jorginho. 1 min: Chelsea get the ball rolling and it is sent wafting towards the right touchline. They line up either side of French referee Clement Turpin and his team of match officials ahead of the Champions League anthem, which is drowned out by noise from the stands. But at the same time is what we love. Reece James takes the free-kick and his low curler brings a fairly straightforward save out of Courtois. Chelsea old boy Thibaut Courtois was on hand to talk up Real Madrid’s chances. “Last season’s tie was different,” he said of Real’s exit a year ago. Real Madrid win it back immediately. 14 min: The first quarter hour has flown by, with neither team asserting dominance.

The players are drenched and the ball is skipping away from them on this slick pitch.

He will be without Eden Hazard, who is having surgery on the plate that has held his ankle in place for the past two years. This could become a familiar fixture for the three Chelsea defenders rumoured to be Camp Nou bound next season and one would expect a significantly higher level of concentration and positional discipline than they showed at the weekend. "Everyone has to be on front foot for a big opponent on big occasions for the quarter-finals. If we can match that we have a lot of quality to win the game and take a good result back to the Bernabeu. They can look brittle at times but Carlo Ancelotti remains the elite player whisperer, making his words somehow resound like war drums in battle-hardened players' ears. Today he will play as long as possible. A sad night for the pop-up sprinkler fans. Militao brings the ball out of defence and plays Valverde in down the right. Rudiger barges Casemiro over just outside the centre-circle. Valverde takes the tackle on, rides it and sets off down the right, playing the ball inside to Benzema who dribbles forward while tacking left. He goes for the Barnes-Wallis bouncing bomb method but there's no centre-forward run to capitalise on it and Courtois, in any case, is unflappable. That was very difficult to meet sweetly but he couldn't have done so any better.

Follow all the action from the first leg of the quarter-final clash at Stamford Bridge.

They have never been beaten by Madrid and Thomas Tuchel has never lost to a Spanish side as a manager. Kai Havertz gets the first leg of this Champions League quarter-final underway. 9 mins: N’Golo Kante closes down Toni Kroos and gives away a free kick to Real Madrid. It’s taken quickly with the ball knocked into the right side of the Chelsea box to match Federico Valverde’s run from the wing. He backheels a pass into the path of Federico Valverde who drives to the edge of the box and slots the ball over to Vinicius Junior. He rolls it onto his right foot and shoots, firing his effort into the crossbar allowing Chelsea to clear their lines! Militao panics and pulls Havertz down giving Chelsea a free kick in a dangerous area. 16 mins: Save! The free kick is just to the left of goal about 20-yards out.

Peter Schmeichel, Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry have predicted who will win the Champions League as Premier League giants Chelsea, Liverpool and ...

Real Madrid vs Manchester City – MANCHESTER CITY Real Madrid vs Manchester City – REAL MADRID Man City and Liverpool can’t.’

Liverpool's charge towards a historic quadruple continued Tuesday as Jurgen Klopp's side ran out a comfortable 3-1 winner away to Benfica in its Champions ...

"Each player in that situation wants to score, and obviously with all the stories around, it's clear that Mo wants to score as well, especially in this moment. "That's all, [it was an] important game for Mo and Sadio tonight. If the game is open, like it was, then you just give a clap and about all the rest, we can speak later. They came through an incredibly tough group and played against one of the most talented teams in Europe with Ajax -- and here they are. However, it wasn't all good news for Liverpool as Mo Salah's recent struggles in front of goal continued. . "We knew in halftime today that it's not done.

The final two Champions League quarter-final ties of the week take place on Wednesday night as Chelsea prepare to host Real Madrid and Villarreal welcome ...

Bayern struggled away from home in the last round against Salzburg, and I can see another draw here. They completely deserved the win over Juventus in the last round. And former Real Madrid striker Michael Owen has given his verdict on tonight's action ahead of another huge round of fixtures.

Chelsea FC 1-3 Real Madrid LIVE! Benzema hat-trick - Champions League match stream, latest score and goal updates. VIEW COMMENTS.

N’Golo Kante - surprisingly - is one of the men to make way and Andreas Christensen, who had a torrid first-half, is the other, so there’ll be a tweak to the shape. Rudiger tries to bail his ‘keeper out in a 50/50 with Benzema but the ball still breaks to the Madrid man, who sweeps into an empty net from midway inside the Chelsea half. Courtois is down keeping goal at the end that the Madrid fans are at this half which should make his life a little more pleasant. 57 mins: Romelu Lukaku and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are the latest Chelsea players out for a warm-up. Madrid bounced back from their El Clasico heartache to beat Celta Vigo ahead of the tie and the visitors will have Carlo Ancelotti in the dugout after his negative Covid test on the morning of the match. Los Blancos are in town for the tie of the round in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Europe's wealthiest clubs will be able to spend even more after the replacement for Financial Fair Play is approved...

But by the fourth season of enforcement, 75% to 100% of that prize money and TV cash could be deducted for breaching the threshold by the same amount. All the talk of UEFA reconsidering the historic merit places — that would have allowed Arsenal to return to the Champions League this season — has been repelled. City and PSG are yet to win the Champions League, though. UEFA did not seize the opportunity to scale back the enlargement in the wake of the Super League debacle. Just look to Spain to see how much of a difference being in the Champions League can make for a club. The same season saw Valencia bank 60.8 million euros ($66 million) from reaching the Champions League last 16.

Thomas Tuchel is taking on a modern great in Carlo Ancelotti, but who are the most successful coaches of the Champions League era?

It speaks of Del Bosque’s adaptability and shrewd man-management that the side he took to Hampden Park in 2002 looked somewhat different, with the first Galacticos era in full swing. Guardiola’s failure to win a Champions League at Bayern is a stick his critics regularly use to beat him. Los Blancos dealt compatriots Valencia the first of their consecutive final defeats in Paris thanks to goals from Fernando Morientes, Steve McManaman and Raul. Porto emerged from an upset-laden and chaotic 2003/04 Champions League as the victors after seeing off Monaco 3-0 in the final. Guardiola finally scaled that hurdle again with Manchester City last season, thanks to an authoritative 4-1 aggregate win over Paris Saint-Germain, but then the freshly crowned Premier League champions ran into Tuchel’s Chelsea. The Rossoneri and Ancelotti had their revenge against the same opponents in Athens two years later, with Filippo Inzaghi scoring both goals in a 2-1 win.

Minute-by-minute report: Will the Yellow Submarine torpedo the German giants? Join Daniel Harris to find out.

He makes such a difference to them, and has got to be one of the most knackering, demoralising left-backs to face. Then, when to that, you add Leroy Sané along with the imminent return of Alphonso Davies, you have a hard night for any team, whoever they are. And yet, I’m sort of missing the turbocharge they give proceedings, though I still think binning them was the right thing to do in terms of sporting integrity. There’s a lot to take in here. BT just ran VT of an interview with Danjuma – he speaks really well, and has the confidence of someone who’s certain he’s got it. 29 min Now here come Villarreal, Lo Celso caressing a lovely ball left and over the top for Moreno with the outside of his boot. Anyhow, Coman goes on the outside of Estupinan, but can’t keep his feet. Villarreal move it nicely through midfield, Lo Celso carrying it and finding Moreno on the line, who plays him in behind. Lo Celso screeches after it, cuts back brilliantly with the outside of his left foot, and Parejo sweeps low, Danjuma redirecting his shot past Neuer from close range. 1 min Robbie Savage is in co-commentary, which seems baffling to me. 26 min Hernandez might’ve hurt his thigh stretching into a challenge, but that’s the least of Bayern’s worries. 12 min Ultimately, this is the thing with Bayern: they concede goals.

The Spaniards produced the shock of the last 16 by knocking out Juventus with a stunning 3-0 second leg win in Turin that capped a 4-1 aggregate victory.

When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. The info going to and from is entirely encrypted. Your access to the game will be automatically blocked, which is annoying if you’ve paid a subscription fee and don't want to use an illegal stream that decides to buffer at the worst possible moment.