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Football London
Football London
Sport
Bobby Vincent

Chelsea handed major boost ahead of Real Madrid second-leg as Thomas Tuchel taunts referee

Eder Militao is suspended for Real Madrid's second-leg against Chelsea after being booked early on at Stamford Bridge. After the ball got played back to the defender, he let it run under his foot and then took Kai Havertz down, with the referee brandishing a yellow card.

Militao, who has been linked with a summer switch to the Blues in recent times, had a shaky start to the first-leg and was booked after a sloppy foul on Havertz. Los Blancos will now be without the Brazilian defender for the second-leg next week.

He started alongside David Alaba at Stamford Bridge, but Carlo Ancelotti does have other centre-back options in his armoury. One of Nacho Fernandez and Jesus Vallejo are now in contention to play next week.

READ MORE: Chelsea vs Real Madrid LIVE: Score updates as two Karim Benzema goals hand visitors lead

Meanwhile, just before that, Thomas Tuchel made a sarcastic comment to the referee. After Andreas Christensen was fouled, the Chelsea boss could be heard on the touchline saying: "Well done, ref" to the referee.

Tuchel called for the supporters to be louder on the night after witnessing a flat Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon against Brentford. The German got his wish, with the stadium very loud in the opening stages of the tie.

"We absolutely need it [better atmosphere]. We need to be better on the pitch – we're the first to admit it – but we need the crowd to be better," Tuchel said. "We need everybody on the front foot. It's a big match, quarter-finals, against a big opponent.

"It's a big occasion. I think that normally we have these kinds of atmospheres in the evening games and big matches throughout this season.

"Spectators in the Champions League matches gave us a huge push in terms of atmosphere and energy. We need it. It's crucial in these games.

"We feel it in every away game when we play to win: Malmo, Saint Petersburg, Lille. It's super hard, and it's much harder to play against the spectators as well.

"We will face it next week in Madrid, so everybody needs to be on the top level. We have to set the spark, but everybody needs to arrive tomorrow ready to support."

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