Real Madrid vs. Chelsea Combined XI for Champions League semifinals

Real Madrid vs. Chelsea will take place on Tuesday night at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, and the first leg of this semifinals clash between one of La Liga’s powerhouse clubs and one of the Premier League’s finest will surely live up to the hype.

In the last round of the Champions League, Los Blancos got off to a hot start, dominating Liverpool 3-1 at home before taking care of business with a 0-0 draw at Anfield to advance. But Chelsea have a stronger side than Liverpool and will be tough opponents for Zinedine Zidane’s men.

How do both teams stack up head-to-head? Which team has the stronger expected lineup for the first leg? Let’s try to tackle that question by creating a combined XI and seeing which team ends up with more players.

Real Madrid GK Thibaut Courtois

We begin with a star player who is quite familiar with both clubs. Edouard Mendy is having a good season for Chelsea. In fact, no player in Europe’s top five leagues has a higher percentage of clean sheets than the Senegalese keeper, per FBRef.com.

But how can anyone take Mendy over former Chelsea star Thibaut Courtois? When he left the Blues, he was seen as arguably the best goalkeeper in the world. And now that he’s fully settled into life in Madrid over the past year, Courtois is just as valid of an option atop a fan’s list of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Mendy leads everyone in Europe’s top five in clean sheet percentage, but Courtois is tops in save percentage. He’s having another brilliant season for Real Madrid and 100 percent merits this selection.