London / Lisbon, Apr 12 (EFE) .- Chelsea and Porto will compete for a place in the semifinals of the Champions League with a match that may be a formality for the English, thanks to the 0-2 in the first leg, and a miracle for the Portuguese, with an almost impossible comeback.
Thomas Tuchel’s men tied the crossing well in the first leg, with goals from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell, and will want to secure their first place in the semifinals in seven years on the same stage of the first leg, Sevilla’s Sánchez Pizjuán.
The ‘Blues’ already know what it is to defend a result in favor, and they achieved it with great authority against Atlético de Madrid, although on that occasion they could enjoy their home, Stamford Bridge. Of course, Chelsea has managed to regain inertia in the Premier League and recover from the setback of that 2-5 against West Bromwich Albion.
The team rotated the weekend, but defeated Crystal Palace with a landslide, with a double by Christian Pulisica and with Kai Havertz seeing the door, two of the players who can serve as a refreshment to Tuchel and who can exploit his speed to hurt a Porto that will need to score soon and go to the top.
Porto will face the quarterfinal return with their gala eleven, since in the first leg they could not count on either their reference center half, the Portuguese international Sérgio Oliveira, or the Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi.
If in the first leg the Porto team ended the match with the feeling of having received too much punishment for their lack of aim and defensive errors, with Oliveira and Taremi their scoring ability is exponential.
They are Porto’s two top gunners: Sérgio Oliviera has scored 12 goals in the League and 6 in the Champions League, while Taremi has 10 in the League (plus another 10 assists) and one in the Champions League.
Also key will be the inspiration of the Mexican “Tecatito” Corona, one of the players with the greatest weight in the offensive plane of Porto and that his inspiration may be key to achieve the comeback.
In the spotlight, the “goalkeeper” captain Pepe, who if he jumps onto the pitch tomorrow will become the oldest Portuguese team player in the Champions League, 38 years, one month and 18 days old.
Pepe is in excellent shape and is the one in command behind “the dragons”. In addition, his experience for having won three orejonas can be key for the heroic.
The Portuguese team has five consecutive victories in the Portuguese League and a player who is on a roll is the Murcian Toni Martínez, who could also play an important role in the comeback, since he has scored in the last two league games.
Probable lineups:
Chelsea: Mendy; Chilwell; Rudiger, Zouma, Azpilicueta, James; Kovacic, Jorginho; Mount, Ziyech and Giroud.
Porto: Marchesín; Pepe, Mbemba, Sanusi, Manafá; Sérgio Oliveira, Uribe, Corona, Otávio; Taremi and Marega.
Stadium: Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán (Seville).
Arbitrator: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Time: 9:00 p.m. (CET) EFE.
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