Kai Havertz 'desperate' to start Chelsea v Real Madrid second leg
Chelsea midfielder Kai Havertz has expressed his desire to start for the Blues in their UEFA Champions League semi-final second-leg encounter against Real Madrid. Havertz's comments came after Chelsea's 2-0 win over Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Havertz was reinstated into Chelsea's starting XI for the Fulham encounter and repaid manager Thomas Tuchel's faith by scoring both of the Blues' goals. The win saw Chelsea strengthen their fourth spot in the Premier League table.
Speaking to the media after the match, Kai Havertz stated he has the Real Madrid second-leg encounter in sight, adding he will give his all in training to make sure he maintains his starting XI spot.
"I'm always desperate to start games, but I know we have a lot of quality players in the team and the other players play well as well," he told Sky Sports.
"I keep going, train hard and give my best. We will see on Wednesday. I think it was very important. We have to come in the top four of the Premier League, that is our goal for the season and this win today is crucial for us. Then, on Wednesday we have another important game so we're happy with the win.
"I scored very early so it gave me a little bit of confidence, it is always good to score and I'm happy to help the team. I hope I can continue like this on Wednesday."
Having joined Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in the transfer window last summer, Havertz has failed to hit the ground running.
Even then, going into the Real Madrid encounter, the German has scored eight and assisted as many for the Blues across competitions.
Whether Tuchel does start Havertz against Real Madrid remains to be seen. Havertz came on as a substitute in the 66th minute of the first leg of the Chelsea v Real Madrid semi-final.
Chelsea hold slight advantage over Real Madrid going into the second leg
Chelsea managed to eke out a 1-1 draw from the first-leg of their UCL semi-final encounter against Real Madrid at Estadio Alfredo di Stefano last week.
The result gives them a slight advantage going into the second installment of the tie at Stamford Bridge with an away goal to their name.
Chelsea opened the scoring against Real Madrid in the first leg through Christian Pulisic in the 14th minute.
However, Real Madrid hit back through Karim Benzema 15 minutes later. The second half went goalless even though Real Madrid dominated proceedings.