Chelsea will be looking to secure their passage to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2014 when they face Portuguese heavyweights FC Porto in the second-leg of their quarter-final showdown this evening.
The Blues, who recorded their biggest victory under head coach Thomas Tuchel so far on Saturday, beating Crystal Palace 4-1 at Selhurst Park, head into tonight’s clash two goals to the good from last week’s first-leg.
Goals either side of half time from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell sealed a comfortable win for Tuchel’s men, ensuring they have a strong advantage heading into this evening’s encounter.
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Unlike in the last-16, when Chelsea got the better of Atletico Madrid, the second-leg, just like the first, will be staged in a neutral venue, with both Chelsea and Porto forced to return to Spain and fight it out in Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
The first-leg was played there last week and Chelsea were considered as the away side, meaning they have two away goals to take into tonight’s clash.
Even though, technically, both sides are playing away from home this evening, Porto will be the side classed as the away team this time around, meaning they must score two goals to stand any chance of overturning the deficit and progressing to the last-four.
A 2-0 win for FC Porto would take the game to extra time, but what are the rules concerning away goals if the game is forced to go beyond its usual 90-minute barrier?
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Very simply, the rules are exactly the same. Away goals do still count in extra time, meaning if Porto were to head into extra time 2-0 up from the 90 minutes, Chelsea were to get one back to make it 1-2 and then Porto scored again to go 3-1 up on the night, they would progress on away goals, with the tie level at 3-3 on aggregate over the course of the two legs.
However, Chelsea, who, of course, have a healthy lead to take into tonight’s game, will be hoping that the above scenario is avoided, as they are strong favourites to make it to the semi-finals and face either Real Madrid or Liverpool.