Chelsea star Marcus Alonso has revealed his team remain fully focused on reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, but insisted it will be a tough test in Madrid.
The Blues currently find themselves 3-1 down to the La Liga leaders, with Karim Benzema's stunning hat-trick at Stamford Bridge giving Los Blancos a two-goal cushion ahead of their showdown this evening. And whilst the Chelsea left-back was quick to assess his side's chances in the Bernabéu, he explained his side will not lose hope in reaching the next round of the competition.
Speaking ahead of the match to the club's social media channels, Alonso said: "It will be tough because it’s Real Madrid and we’re two goals down, but we don’t lose hope. We are capable of doing a great match. Let’s see, there’s still 90 minutes to play. We need to be very focused, very humble and work very hard."
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In terms of team news for the Blues, they are expected to be without Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku, but there is one significant piece of team news for the hosts.
Marca report that central defender Eder Militao will miss the game at the Bernabéu, after picking up his fifth yellow card of the tournament, resulting in a one-match suspension.
His likely replacement is set to be Spanish international Nacho Fernandez, who has not started a game since Los Blancos were humiliated 4-0 at home by Barcelona last month. Full-back Ferland Mendy also returned to training with Carlo Ancelotti's men at the start of the week after missing Saturday's 2-0 victory over Getafe.
