Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel hopes that the club’s supporters will be allowed to purchase tickets to watch Chelsea’s tie with Real Madrid come April 5.
The draws for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA European Conference League were held at the house of European football in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
Chelsea were drawn to face 13-time Champions League winners Real Madrid in a rematch of the semi-final of the 2020/21 Champions League season.
While the match promises to be an interesting fixture and the club is looking forward to extending their record over Real Madrid in official competitions, Chelsea manager Tuchel is hoping that his club supporters will be able to come watch the side playing against European football royalty.
Chelsea have been hit with several sanctions which are as a result of owner Roman Abramovich being linked to Russian president Vladimir Putin. One of those sanctions is the ban on ticket sales for Chelsea matches.
Chelsea’s draw happens to be the glamour tie of the quarterfinals stages, which makes it all the more important for Chelsea fans to be available to witness their side defend their Champions League title against the best of the best opponents.
“It’s a tough one,” Tuchel began. “The challenge cannot be much higher than playing the second leg at the Bernabeu with spectators but it is a big excitement around this fixture. We know what it coming.
“It is always nice for European nights to play teams at this stage that are not the teams you play so many times in domestic competitions.
“It would be a disadvantage [to face Madrid without fans at Stamford Bridge]. In general this game is for the spectators and the game changes so much with spectators so hopefully we will find solutions and I’m pretty sure everyone at the club will fight for a chance.
“I’m not sure how big the possibility is but any game needs spectators and hopefully we can make it happen.”
Chelsea were drawn in the same bracket with Manchester City and Atlético de Madrid and whoever wins from both ties will face each other in the semi-finals.
The winner of that bracket will face the winner of the Liverpool-Benfica and Bayern Munich-Villarreal in the final.
The final of the Champions League will be holding in Stade de France after UEFA moved the final from St Petersburg, Russia due to the country’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Bids for Chelsea received as sale deadline day passes
Of the pitch, the sale of Chelsea by Roman Abramovich is currently in the final process of vetting as several bids were submitted on the sale deadline day.
The Russian oligarch has been forced to give up most of his assets in the United Kingdom, including Chelsea, following the sanctions placed on him by the government.
As is typical of such high-profile sales, there have been back-and-forth negotiations, a war of words and bids, as well as several media talks which are unfounded about the potential buyers of the European champions.
Abramovich put the club on sale for £3.5 billion and is not planning to recoup the loan of £1.5 billion, which he gave Chelsea during his 19-year ownership of the club to help them attain the heights which they have currently.
The most prominent bid for the club comes from Nick Candy, a British property developer and a lifelong Chelsea fan who is also a season ticket holder of many seasons.
Candy’s Blue Football consortium, formed to buy Chelsea from Abramovich, submitted a £2 billion bid for the club. The billionaire developer promised to have fan representation on the board of the club if his bid to buy Chelsea goes through.
The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs, a Major League Baseball franchise, also submitted a bid to buy the club. They too, will be leading an investment group to purchase the club and administer it. They’re the only bidders to have any sports background. They are also claimed to be three times richer than Abramovich, which should make the prospect of ownership appealing to all involved.
Other bidders are a Sir Broughton-led consortium, the Boehly-Wyss consortium and Aethel Partners.
