Chelsea vs Al Hilal LIVE: Club World Cup semi-final team news, line-ups and more today
Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, left, and Chelsea’s Mason Mount laugh during a training session in Abu Dhabi
Chelsea begin their Club World Cup campaign in the semi-finals against Saudi side Al Hilal.
Thomas Tuchel will not be present due to contracting Covid and the Blues are searching for form after struggling to a 2-1 win over Plymouth in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Londoners are looking to become world champions for the first time after securing their second Champions League last year by beating Manchester City in Porto.
For some at Chelsea, this is the last remaining major club honour left to win after defeat to Corinthians 10 years ago, having beaten Bayern Munich to land their first Champions League crown.
Al Hilal thrashed Al Jazira 6-1 to reach this stage, with former Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim eyeing an upset to face Palmeiras in the final, after the Brazilians beat Al Ahly 2-0 on Tuesday.
“It’s very difficult to be in this tournament, after 10 years you realise how difficult,” Cesar Azpilicueta said. “We lost the final at that time. Maybe I had a different feeling, it was my first season, it looked easier than it does but with time you realise how difficult it is to go all the way. We have to make the most of it. It’ll be difficult but hopefully the experience will help us in this tournament. I’m really motivated.”
Follow live goal and score updates below, plus build-up, team news, line-ups, analysis and reaction:
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Club World Cup: History beckons for Chelsea
If they win the competition this year Chelsea will become only the third team to make a win all of UEFA’s club competitions plus the Fifa Club World Cup.
In their history the Blues have already triumphed in the European Cup/Champions League, Uefa Cup/Europa League, Cup Winners’ Cup and Super Cup but they need to add the Club World Cup to their trophy case to join Bayern Munich and Manchester United in a clean sweep.
Club World Cup: Chelsea’s previous attempts
This is Chelsea’s second pursuit of the gold badge of world champions. The Blue’s previous participation in this competition came in 2012 and ended when they lost 1-0 to Corinthians of Brazil in the final.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel is absent with Covid and has been motivating his players’ pursuit of a second trophy this season through all-hours texts, calls and video conferences with his staff.
Club World Cup: Chelsea to wait on Mount
In the absence of Chelsea’s manager, Thomas Tuchel’s assistant Zsolt Low spoke to the media earlier in the week and gave an update of the fitness of Mason Mount. Low said:
Mason is getting better and better every day. We’ll see how he moves and feels, take the last decision tomorrow.
“We had a hard cup game with 120 minutes and a long trip here. We have to use the first two days to recover and slowly today we are prepared for a good session and game.
“The four-hour time difference, players couldn’t sleep very well, they need this time to play the game.”
Club World Cup: Chelsea coaches at Club World Cup ‘constantly in contact’ with Covid-stricken Thomas Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel will aim to give Chelsea a virtual team-talk ahead of their Club World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
The Blues boss has been unable to join the Blues in Abu Dhabi after testing positive for coronavirus.
The German missed Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup fourth-round win over Plymouth watching from home as his side edged out the Pilgrims after extra time.
Chelsea coaches at Club World Cup ‘constantly in contact’ with Thomas Tuchel
Arno Michels and Zsolt Low will take charge for Wednesday’s Club World Cup semi-final against Al Hilal
Club World Cup: Chelsea team news
Chelsea’s Mason Mount was forced off in their FA Cup win over Plymouth on Saturday but has travelled with the team to Abu Dhabi for the semi-final of the Fifa Cliub World Cup.
Mount will be assessed before the game to see if he can play a part.
Reece James is also in the squad but won’t feature as he continues to recover from injury and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is back with the Blues following his Africa Cup of Nations success with Senegal.
Chelsea’s manager, Thomas Tuchel, is once again absent after a positive Covid-19 test, which saw him miss the FA Cup fourth round match, means he is in self-isolation.
What is the Club World Cup?
The Club World Cup is an international men’s competition organised by Fifa.
The current format involves seven teams competing for the title within a host nation. The winners of the AFC Champions League (Asia), CAF Champions League (Africa), CONCACAF Champions League (North America), Copa Libertadores (South America), OFC Champions League (Oceania) and UEFA Champions League (Europe) compete along with the host nation’s national champions.
Th knockout tournament starts with the host nation’s champions facing the Oceania champions in a play-off with the winner joining the champions of Asia, Africa, and North America in the quarter-finals.
The quarter-final winners then face the South American and European champions who enter the competition at this stage.
In the 2022 competition those teams were Palmeiras (South America) and Chelsea (Europe). Palmeiras played their semi-final yesterday beating Al Ahly (Africa champions) 2-0 and progressing to the final.
Chelsea face Al-Hilal (Asia champions) today for a spot in the final.
Petr Cech explains key to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea success after one year in charge
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech says the key to Thomas Tuchel’s success since joining the Stamford Bridge side has been the speed with which he adapted to the club.
The German coach took charge of Chelsea in January 2021 after leaving Paris Saint-Germain shortly beforehand, and won the Champions League in Porto less than six months later with a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
Since then, though the team’s title challenge faltered significantly during December, Chelsea have won the Super Cup in Belfast by beating Villarreal and have reached the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool thanks to a two-legged win over Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals.
Petr Cech explains key to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea success after one year in charge
The German coach won the Champions League in his first season at Stamford Bridge
‘We have to make the most of it’: Cesar Azpilicueta urges Chelsea to take chance at Club World Cup
Cesar Azpilicueta has told Chelsea to go and make history by claiming a maiden Club World Cup title in Abu Dhabi.
Chelsea can break new ground by lifting the Club World Cup crown this week, and victory would complete Azpilicueta’s trophy clean sweep at club level.
The Blues skipper has tasted success in every other major club competition, and now wants to complete the set.
Cesar Azpilicueta urges Chelsea to take chance to become club world champions
The Blues open their Club World Cup campaign at the semi-final stage when they take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in Abu Dhabi
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