April 18, 2012 2:45 PM EDT
Stamford Bridge — London
Stamford Bridge — London
The holders head to Stamford Bridge once again to take on Roberto Di Matteo's men with both sides bidding for a place in the final against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich
Chelsea has problems in defense with David Luiz likely to miss out after being stretchered off at Wembley against Tottenham on Sunday and Gary Cahill also struggling with a foot problem. John Terry will continue to play, despite a rib injury, and Branislav Ivanovic should replace Jose Bosingwa at right back, having been suspended for the FA Cup semifinal.
Elsewhere manager Roberto Di Matteo must decide whether to keep faith with the players who served him so well in the 5-1 thrashing of Spurs or freshen up his team. Dider Drogba and Frank Lampard were both scorers on Sunday, so may have done enough to retain their places, although Fernando Torres, who started both games against Benfica, will be hoping for a recall to the starting XI.
Barcelona has no fresh injury worries and indeed has players returning from injury with Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Seydou Keita and Ibrahim Afellay all back in the squad. It it also worth mentioning that both Javier Mascherano and Carles Puyol are one yellow card away from a suspension.
Chelsea has problems in defense with David Luiz likely to miss out after being stretchered off at Wembley against Tottenham on Sunday and Gary Cahill also struggling with a foot problem. John Terry will continue to play, despite a rib injury, and Branislav Ivanovic should replace Jose Bosingwa at right back, having been suspended for the FA Cup semifinal.
Elsewhere manager Roberto Di Matteo must decide whether to keep faith with the players who served him so well in the 5-1 thrashing of Spurs or freshen up his team. Dider Drogba and Frank Lampard were both scorers on Sunday, so may have done enough to retain their places, although Fernando Torres, who started both games against Benfica, will be hoping for a recall to the starting XI.
Barcelona has no fresh injury worries and indeed has players returning from injury with Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Seydou Keita and Ibrahim Afellay all back in the squad. It it also worth mentioning that both Javier Mascherano and Carles Puyol are one yellow card away from a suspension.
