Chelsea, one of the teams that could book a round of 16 place, travel to face Azerbaijan’s champions, Qarabag, with manager, Antonio Conte chasing his 50th win as manager of the Blues.
Tonight’s game will be Conte’s 67th as Chelsea’s manager, but the Italian will have to make do without his Nigerian wingback, Victor Moses, who is set to miss the club’s ‘most important’ game of the season at the Olimpiya Stadionu in Baku as he steps up his recovery from injury.
Conte says Eden Hazard is fit and there are no new injury problems. Batshuayi, Moses, Kenedy and Musonda remain out.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 21, 2017
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Currently second in group B, a point behind Serie A side, AS Roma, Chelsea will need a win to qualify to the round of 16, or a draw if Atletico Madrid fail to win at home to Roma.
But the English side are well aware that their host, Qarabag, aren’t pushovers, especially at home and according to goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, the Blues must be ‘extremely careful’ and ‘on top’ of their opponents.
“I think tomorrow will be a tough game,” Courtois told uefa.com. “We want to get three points. Yes, we are favourites for this match, but we need to take into account that Qarabağ managed to create problems for Atlético in both games. We have to stay on top of them and press them.”
Courtois says the players are only thinking about tomorrow's game. He knows it will be a difficult match because of Qarabag's results against Atletico and Roma.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 21, 2017
“I think Qarabağ will let us have the ball and will look to counterattack, trying to punish any mistakes we might make. We will need to be extremely careful,” the Belgian added.
In the other group C game, Atletico need a win to stay in contention for a top two finish when they battle Roma, who will be through with a point and seal first place with a win if Chelsea fail to beat Qarabag.
Meanwhile, elsewhere tonight, Manchester United and Barcelona are also on the brink of qualifying for the round of 16.
Basel bound! #UCL ✈️ pic.twitter.com/mXfXkbInZk
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 21, 2017
Both clubs need a point to book their places and finish top of group A and D respectively. While United are away to Basel, Barcelona also are on the road as they tackle Italian giants, Juventus, at the Juventus stadium in Turin.
DID YOU KNOW?
Juventus are 25 home games unbeaten in UEFA competition (W16 D9). 💪 #UCL pic.twitter.com/eE87J5iMnM
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 20, 2017
Juventus may be looking for revenge following that 3-0 defeat at Camp Nou on match day one, but their legendary goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon and Barca’s Ivan Rakitic have other plans for tonight.
Dear @ivanrakitic , as a goalkeeper I might still play but playing for Croatia as a midfielder in your place might not be a great idea: I am saying it for your good sake.😂 Joking apart, your words have been a great gift. Thanks to you and @JordiAlba: my jersey is waiting for you
— Gianluigi Buffon (@gianluigibuffon) November 21, 2017
Full Wednesday Fixtures
Group A
Basel vs Manchester United
CSKA Moskva vs Benfica
Group B
PSG vs Celtic
Anderlecht vs Bayern Munich
Group C
Qarabag vs Chelsea
Atletico vs Roma
Group D
Juventus vs Barcelona
Sporting CP vs Olympiacos
