Real Madrid's second leg against Chelsea 'like a cup final' - Curtis

 

 

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been linked with a "Cup final" at Stamford Bridge, after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Tuesday in the Champions League tie.

 

In the opening leg of the semi-final tie in the Spanish capital on Tuesday, Madrid ran from behind to draw for Chelsea from home, with Karim Benzema equalizing in the 29th minute.

 

Madrid got off to a friendly start at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, where Chelsea took the lead after 14 minutes thanks to Christian Pulisic, although Benzema equalized 15 minutes later.

 

Zinedine Zidane's Madrid failed to find a winner in the second half of the season and the Spanish powerhouse has now won more matches against Chelsea than any other side in all competitions, winning four matches (D2L2).

 

"The return leg will be like a cup final. His aggression and intensity, which was higher than ours, took advantage of that," Curtis said after the match against former side Chelsea, where he played in 2018. I won two Premier League titles before I left.

 

"We wanted to start like this and put a high press. They gave their all. We struggled a little more in the first 20-25 minutes.

 

"We have to improve the hair on top of the hair. We had more control in the second half."

 

Benzema's goal was Madrid's lone shot against Chelsea. Compared to Paris Saint-Germain in September 2019 - when they had no one - when began collecting such data in 2003-04, they had fewer players in the Champions League game.

 

Meanwhile, it was the only game in which Madrid have not scored at least two goals at home in a Champions League game this season. Still, they are the team that has scored the home goals so far in the competition (14).

 

"With the score 1-1, the second round is like a cup final. I don't think it will end 0-0," Courts added. "It simply came to our notice then.

 

"We caused them trouble when we were in possession. We'll see what kind of game it is. When we analyze it with Zidane, we'll see what the plans for Stamford Bridge are." ۔ "

 

Madrid head coach Zidane added: "The team has confidence in our work. This is the most important thing. We know our abilities and trust them. We try our best in every game.

 

"It's not easy because it's hard to play different games every three days against very good teams. But we are confident in our chances and we will try to get back to the second round.

 

"We're going to win the game, and in particular, we know we need to score there."