Premier League heavyweight Chelsea are into the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League thanks to a 2-1 aggregate triumph over Portuguese side FC Porto – and to add to the good news of making the semi-final for the first time in seven years, their progression will be worth over €12m/£10.4m in prize money.
The West London side survived a stunning late overhead kick from Porto star Mehdi Taremi to triumph over the Portuguese side and confirm a spot in the UEFA Champions League last four for the first time in as many years, with online casino nz bound to release some odds ahead of their semi-final game.
Thomas Tuchel’s men may have suffered defeat on Tuesday night’s second leg 1-0 but that result barely tells the entire story of a dull match in which the visitors had been unable to create a clear-cut chance until Mehdi Taremi’s incredible goal late in the match.
Mehdi Taremi’s stunner was out of character with the remainder of FC Porto’s display on the night, and the goal came too little, too late to alter the inevitable course of this last eight.
It was only Porto’s second attempt on target as the Blues controlled proceedings, having won the first leg through goals from the England duo of Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell.
Chelsea had already pocketed €79.8m/£69.2m from Europe this campaign – a sum that would have increased if stadiums had been left open for fans.
Only holders Bayern Munich, who were kicked out of the competition by Ligue 1 giants PSG in Tuesday’s other encounter, and potential last four opponents Real Madrid have pocketed more, according to financial figures provided by football-coefficient. EU.
The Blues will face either Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid or last season’s English Premier League winners Liverpool in the semi-final. Both sides meet in their second leg on Wednesday night with Real leading 3-1 after their first-leg clash in Madrid last Tuesday.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City hold a slim lead over Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund going into Wednesday’s second leg encounter.
The last-four matches are billed to hold on April 27/28 and May 4/5 and reaching the final would be worth an additional €15m/£13m, with another additional €4m/£3.5m for the eventual winner of the continental club competition and https://www.casinous.com/real-money-casinos/ is looking forward to that.
Blues manager Thomas Tuchel said reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League is a “great achievement” as Chelsea moved into the semi-finals for the first time since 2014.
“We will become a strong side,” he told BT Sport after his team lost the second leg 1-0 in injury time.
“We could not finish it off with a goal so we had to hang in there.”
The West London club were ninth in the English Premier League when the German tactician arrived in the New Year but he has guided them to within one point of the top four, the Emirates FA Cup semi-finals, and now into a UEFA Champions League semi-final. Thomas Tuchel was a beaten finalist with his former French side Paris St-Germain last year and would not entertain questions on whether he would rather face Liverpool or Real.
