Porto vs Chelsea as it happened – Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Re-live Porto vs Chelsea with our liveblog, which covered all the action from the Champions League quarter-final first leg in Spain
Join us for all the build-up of Porto vs Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Porto 0-2 Chelsea
FULL-TIME: Porto 0-2 Chelsea
A solid performance from the Blues, who surely make the last four now. Tuchel's side did well to keep Porto out in the first half, but dominated in the second 45. Two brilliant goals, from Mount and Chilwell were the difference.
84 min: It's another beautiful goal for the visitors as Ben Chilwell scores his first in the Champions League.
The left back robs a defender deep inside the opposition half and drifts inside Pepe before shimmying past the goalkeeper too. It's a simple tap in, but it took quality and composure to get in that position.
[Crosses out “Luke Shaw” on the England Euro 2020 Starting XI sheet]pic.twitter.com/B86VGU8DOYApril 7, 2021
84 min: GOAL! Porto 0-2 Chelsea
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83 min: Triple sub for Porto as Otavia is replaced by fellow winger Fabio Vieira, Toni Martinez comes on up front for Marega and striker Conciecao replaces a defender, Manafa. They're going for this.
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82 min: Not just an (incredibly) pretty face, Olivier Giroud.
Giroud has just come on for Chelsea. Any excuse to revisit the last time he played at this ground 👀 Just the four goals... #PORCHE #UCL pic.twitter.com/hFhGi3GTZmApril 7, 2021
80 min: Double sub for Chelsea as Mount and James make way for Kante and Silva. The term "shutting up shop" springs to mind.
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78 min: Just to keep you updated, it's Bayern 2-3 PSG, after Muller and Mbappe add a goal for either team after the break.
We'll only be slightly offended if you whack that on and never darken our door again. You can watch it here.
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76 min: Lovely stuff from FFT columnist Richard Jolly.
Sergio Conceicao gets his first booking in a Champions League quarter-final for 24 years since Manchester United 4-0 Porto in 1997.April 7, 2021
73 min: Porto coach Sergio Conceicao gets a yellow card. He was presumably behind that faintly-heard "Who's the w***er in the florescent yellow?!" chant.
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70 min: Porto denied a penalty.
Porto take a throw in deep in Chelsea's half and Marega spins Azpilicueta easily. The Blues skipper appears to shove the striker from behind and he goes over in the box. The referee turns his nose up at it. No VAR check either. Strange.
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65 min: Chelsea make a double sub, as Pulisic and Giroud come in for Havertz and Werner.
It's not been a great night for either German.
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63 min: Chelsea go close.
Porto's Chancel Mbemba picks up the game's first yellow for a wild swing at Chillwell back near his own corner flag. The free kick is whipped in and Azpilicueta gets his head on it. It's both wide and over bar, but not a million miles off.
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59 min: Chelsea finally get a decent spell of play in Porto's half. It gets knocked around without any real impetus before Rudiger appears from nowhere and hammers a daisy-cutter at goal.
Werner tees-up Mount on the rebound but the whistle goes for offside.
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55 min: Reece James prevents Luis Diaz from crossing but the home side get a corner.
It's like Reading Festival mosh-pit by the time it's swung in, though - Mendy's on the deck, there's pushing a shoving, a couple of security guards are passing plastic cups of water into the throng. The ref blows his whistle and awards Chelsea a free kick.
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51 min: Chance for Porto, who look the more comfortable team after the break.
Manenga gets to a long ball ahead of Chilwell and finds himself one on one with Mendy. The tight angle means a save was always likely, however. The resulting corner leads nowhere.
45 min: The second half gets underway as Porto kick off. Chelsea enjoyed 64% possession in the first half, playing over 100 passes more than their hosts, yet they had just a single shot to Porto's seven. That one shot did have the advantage of hitting the back of the net, mind.
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8.48pm: Alright, have a half-time quiz to keep you entertained.
Chelsea have a good history in the Champions League over the past 20 years, becoming a heavy-hitter that other elite teams are rarely happy to be drawn against.
In that time, 71 players have got on the scoresheet for the Blues. Now, we don’t think you can name all of them – certainly not in the 10 minutes provided – but how many do you think you can get? Try out our head-scratching Chelsea quiz.
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HALF-TIME: Porto 0-1 Chelsea
Mason Mount's fine goal the only thing separating the two sides at half-time, in what was an otherwise uneventful 45 minutes. Not the best performance, but Porto have hardly threatened and they have an away goal – Chelsea will be pleased with that.
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44 min: Not only was Mason Mount's goal Chelsea's only attempt so far this half, the xG rating on it was... 0.05.
That's a big, big goal.
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HERE'S THAT MOUNT GOAL: Lovely, isn't it?
Mason Mount with a brilliant maiden #UCL goal 💥The pass, the swivel, the finish! 🔥Superb stuff from Chelsea! pic.twitter.com/gM45SDlczGApril 7, 2021
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MEANWHILE IN MUNICH... Bayern have pulled one back to make it 2-1, ex-PSG Choupo-Moting grabbing that one.
(You can watch that game here if you want.)
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36 min: A Pepe interception gives us a nice reason to share this again.
Against Juventus in the last-16, Porto's Pepe won 100% of his aerial duels, made 18 clearances, eight recoveries, two blocks and two tackles.The. Man. Is. 38. 🦸♂️🇵🇹#PORCHE #UCL #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/ekEO2ORMXcApril 7, 2021
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32 min: A lovely, lovely goal from Mason Mount – his first in the Champions League.
A simple pass from Jorginho, Mount takes it on the turn on the right of the box, dropping his marker with his first touch and leaves him in acres of room – then he rifles it into the far corner. The word "nestles" springs to mind as the ball meets the inside side netting.
32 min: GOAL! Porto 0-1 Chelsea
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MEANWHILE IN MUNICH... PSG are now 2-0 against Bayern!
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29 min: More half-chances than chances for either team so far, with Sanusi's corner the best of the bunch so far.
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25 min: Chance! That corner almost goes straight in, and needs some quick reflexes from Mendy to keep it out.
Chelsea win a corner up the other end.
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24 min: A short corner that's clearly come from the training ground, including a little chip into the box... leading to another corner.
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22 min: Not a bad, corner – leads to a Porto throw on the other side and another corner.
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21 min: Niggly fouls are starting to make their way into the game – Jorginho the latest, giving away a free-kick on the left of the box.
The cross comes in, and Porto win the corner.
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16 min: Porto a playing with a very flat 4-4-2 out of possession, which Chelsea are struggling to find space between for the moment.
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14 min: More pressure from Porto. A bit of clever play around the box leads to a deft chip into left-back Sanusi on the byline – but he completely fluffs the attempted volley into the centre.
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12 min: Shot by Diaz is blocked by Christensen. Porto keep the pressure on and a volley from Uribe ripples the top of the Chelsea goal. Suddenly they're looking a lot more comfortable on the ball...
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11 min: Porto have their first attack, but a poor cross from the left is straight into Mendy's arms.
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8 min: Porto pile their players into the Chelsea box for a free-kick from the right and then... play it short. It never reaches the box.
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MEANWHILE, IN MUNICH... Blimey, there's been a goal in the Bayern-PSG game, with Kylian Mbappe giving the visitors the lead.
Here's what our colleague Mark White has to say:
The pass from Di Maria was absolutely sublime, by the wayApril 7, 2021
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3 min: Kai Havertz breaks into the box from the left, but no one's in the middle to meet the cross, and Reece James picks it up on the right flank. Despite tight Porto pressure, Chelsea have had almost all of the possession so far.
1 min: And we're off!
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Pre-match build up
7.57pm: On the topic of Portuguese football – and watch in wonder at this world-class bit of crowbarring – the new issue of FourFourTwo magazine is in shops today, with a big feature interview with Portuguese footballer Bruno Fernandes!
You can pick it up with free delivery here.
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7.56pm: Just a couple of minutes to go tonight. Just a reminder that the game is in Seville tonight because... well, you know.
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7.49pm: Chelsea fans would most like to see the return of Didier Drogba from the 2012 side (see 7.36pm update) and the Blues are constantly linked with striking talent across Europe – most recently Sergio Aguero.
So what's the deal with Timo Werner, one of the most promising forwards in Europe? Back in January, Ed McCambridge, our resident expert in German football, explained why things aren't working as they should for him.
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7.43pm: Thiago Silva "only had half an hour" at the weekend and needs a bit longer to "improve his fitness", Thomas Tuchel tells BT Sport, in the most diplomatic manner.
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7.36pm: We asked Chelsea fans to pick a member of the 2012 UCL winning squad they would bring back to help them tonight. Didier Drogba won by a landslide. Are Chelsea’s attacking options really that poor right now?
🔵🏆 Chelsea fans: you can choose ONE player from the 2012 Champions League winning side to help you win it again this season.Who do you go for? #CFC #FCPCFCApril 7, 2021
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Odds
7.30pm: How about some betting odds for tonight’s game? Bet365 has a Porto win at 18/5, a draw at 12/5 and a Chelsea win at 5/6. 18+ only, and gamble responsibly.
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7.27pm: N’Golo Kante is a huge miss for Thomas Tuchel. The French midfielder has a new lease of life under the Blues coach, and was a pivotal figure in the lengthy unbeaten run that came to a crashing end against [checks notes again], er, Sam Allardyce’s West Brom?
The key to the success has been Tuchel’s use of a ‘double pivot’, which suits Kante perfectly: you can read Ewan Lury’s explainer on that here.
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7.24pm: Here's who else is missing...
N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic are both suffering from hamstring injuries, with the latter sustained during this weekend’s drubbing at the hands of [checks notes] ... Sam Allardyce’s West Brom? That doesn’t sound right.
Porto will be missing Sergio Oliveira and Mehdi Taremi with suspensions, and Mouhamed Mbaye through long-term injury.
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7.22pm: Thiago Silva is one of those changes: he's been dropped to the bench. He had, it must be said, a bit of a shocker at the weekend against, er, Sam Allardyce’s West Brom, running himself an early bath before the game had even hit the half-hour mark.
It was out of character for the 36-year-old defender, however, who has otherwise been a brilliant bit of business for the Blues, adding much-needed experience to a promising, but still young squad.
We sat down for a long interview with the Brazilian recently, as he spoke about captaining Chelsea, his aspirations at Stamford Bridge, and nearly dying… It’s definitely worth a read.
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Line-ups
7.20pm: Here's Chelsea's starting XI tonight – a 4-3-3 for the Blues, with five changes from the team that lost to Sam Allardyce's West Brom (no, really, they did).
Chelsea (3-4-3): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Werner #CFC #UCL #PORCHE pic.twitter.com/hU7iuld3UQApril 7, 2021
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7.17pm: The big news at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground this week was a bust-up between defender Antonio Rudiger and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. The pair reportedly had to be separated by teammates after a heavy challenge led to a heated exchange, with the German sent away to cool off in the dressing room for the remainder of the session.
“They are all competitors and want to win training matches,” Tuchel told reporters following the incident. “We needed to interfere in the situation, so that was serious.” All appears to be sorted ahead of the Porto clash, though. Still, everyone loves handbags… read the full story here.
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7.10pm: First bit of team news – here's how Porto will line up tonight:
⚽𝕆 ℕ𝕆𝕊𝕊𝕆 𝟙𝟙 𝕀ℕ𝕀ℂ𝕀𝔸𝕃⚽#FCPorto #FCPCFC #UCL pic.twitter.com/L45J1UVWB3April 7, 2021
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How to watch
7.05pm: We’ll be covering the whole match, including build-up, right here – but if you’re looking to watch the 8pm kick-off with a live stream or on TV, then we’ve got your covered too: here’s how to watch Porto vs Chelsea tonight.
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6.58pm: Welcome to our liveblog for Porto vs Chelsea, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals!
Thomas Tuchel suffered his first defeat as Chelsea boss this weekend, 15 games into his tenure, with a surprise 5-2 drubbing at the hands of relegation-threatened West Brom.
This allowed cross-London rivals West Ham to leapfrog them into fourth place after beating Wolves on Monday night.
Not the perfect preparation for a crucial Champions League tie.
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