Kepa reveals what Chelsea have to do to knock out Real Madrid

Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga

Kepa reveals what Chelsea have to do to knock out Real Madrid

Faruq Ibrahim 16:02 - 17.04.2023

Kepa Arrizabalaga talks about knocking out Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.

Chelsea's goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga believes they can overturn the tie against Real Madrid and knock them out to reach the semi-final of the Champions League, but he believes they have to do certain things. 

Real Madrid have a two-goal advantage in the first-leg, where they beat the Blues 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Chelsea host them at Stamford Bridge for the second-leg tomorrow. 

What Kepa said 

The Spaniard, who was in goal when Frank Lampard's side conceded in both halves to strikes from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio in the first-leg speaks on what he thinks they have to do to knock out the competition's defending champions. 

Chelsea s Kepa Arrizabalaga clap the Fans
Chelsea s Kepa Arrizabalaga clap the Fans

He said they have to play better than they did in Spain, before going on to give insights into what he thought they could improve on.

Kepa explains that they have to keep more possession of the ball and dominate proceedings; however, while doing that, he said they also have to be careful of Real Madrid's offensive transitions and control the counterattacks.

He concluded by saying they needed to be clinical and score more goals. Chelsea need to win by a three-goal margin to win the tie, or two to send the game into extra-time and, or, penalties. 

"We need a better performance than in the Bernabeu. We need to control counter attacks better and spend more time with the ball, score goals and be more clinical," Kepa said, per the BBC.

Lukaku to return to Chelsea

Meanwhile, Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, currently on loan at Inter, is set to return to the club in the summer after the Nerazzurri decided that they would not be exercising their option to make the deal permanent

Lukaku was expected to make a career comeback with Inter after an underwhelming 2021/22 season with Chelsea but has failed to reignite his career in Milan this season while on loan. 

The Belgian forward returned to Inter, where he made fond memories in his first spell with the club between 2019 and 2021 when he scored 64 goals in 95 games, helping the Nerazzurri break Juventus’ dominance in Italy and claim the 2020/21 Serie A title at the start of this season. 

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