After back-to-back Champions League hat tricks, Karim Benzema is the front runner for the 2022 Ballon d’Or 
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Players with back-to-back hat tricks in the Champions League:
Karim Benzema (2021-22)
Cristiano Ronaldo (2016-17)
Lionel Messi (2016-17)
Luiz Adriano (2014-15)
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Beat Manchester United in the Europa League final last season and has now master-minded #UCL knock-out victories over Juventus and Bayern Munich without conceding in successive games. Unai Emery is having a blast in Europe at Villarreal
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3 - Last night Karim Benzema became only the third player in UEFA Champions League history to score a hat-trick against the current holders of the competition:
Adriano vs FC Porto in 2004-05
Gareth Bale vs Inter in 2010-11
Karim Benzema vs Chelsea in 2021-22
Humbled.
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Chelsea have conceded 31.8% of their home goals in their last two matches at Stamford Bridge (7/22)
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At 34 years-108 days, Karim Benzema broke his own record as the oldest player to score a hat trick in the UEFA Champions League 
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Pick four to progress…
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Real Madrid already have one foot through the doors into the next round after securing a stunning 3-1 victory in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, riding on the brilliance of Karim Benzema. Following that victory, Carlo Ancelotti’s men warmed up for the second leg with a comfortable 2-0 win over Getafe in La Liga over the weekend.
As for Chelsea, the Blues were all over the place, especially in the first half, at home in the first leg last week. Manager Thomas Tuchel demanded a strong reaction from his team, and that is what he got as the west Londoners thrashed Southampton 6-0 in the Premier League on Saturday. The victory will have come as a huge morale boost for Chelsea ahead of the trip to the Spanish capital.
While Tuchel’s side are at a disadvantage heading into the second leg, they will do well to remember that they got the better of Real Madrid in the semi-finals last season. And the Blues will be hoping to pull off a comeback on Tuesday while the Merengues will be keen on guarding against complacency and seeing the tie through professionally.
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Real Madrid vs Chelsea team news
Eden Hazard (ankle), Isco (back) and Luka Jovic (muscle) all sat out the first leg and will do so once again this week, having also missed the win over Getafe. Eder Militao is suspended.
Chelsea will travel to Spain without Romelu Lukaku after the striker was ruled out due to his Achilles injury. Lukaku missed Saturday’s 6-0 win at Southampton with the issue and has not recovered in time.
Captain Cesar Azpilicueta is available again however after he missed the Southampton win due to Covid. Callum Hudson-Odoi remains sideined with an Achilles problem, while Ross Barkley has been ruled out due to illness. Ben Chilwell is a long-term absentee.
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Real Madrid’s 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge last week was their first-ever victory over Chelsea in European competitions, having drawn two and lost three of their previous five such meetings.
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This will be Chelsea’s first-ever game at the Santiago Bernabeu in European competitions. Last season’s semi-final away leg was played at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.
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Real Madrid have progressed from nine of their previous ten ties in the Champions League knockout stages when winning the first leg away from home.
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No Chelsea player has been directly involved in more UEFA Champions League goals under Thomas Tuchel than Christian Pulisic (six – three goals, three assists).
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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is looking to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League for the eighth time in his career – the joint-most by a coach in the history of the competition along with Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.
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Bayern Munich vs Villarreal
Bayern Munich are not enjoying a good time at the moment. The Bundesliga champions have performed below par in recent weeks, notably losing 1-0 to Villarreal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final encounter. It was followed by an equally challenging Bavarian derby against FC Augsburg, where they had to labour to a 1-0 victory.
They are coming up against a Villarreal side determined to perform well in Europe following an underwhelming La Liga campaign that sees them dawdling in the seventh position, with not much hope for a potential top-six finish.
The confidence in the Villarreal camp should be high given their first-leg performance. But coach Unai Emery will have seen clips of Bayern’s merciless comeback against RB Salzburg in the previous round, as we head towards this exciting match-up this midweek.
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Bayern Munich vs Villarreal team news
Bouna Sarr and and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting missed the win over Augsburg due to injury as Lucas Hernandez, Alphonso Davies and Kingsley Coman were all rested from the starting XI. That trio should return for this game.
Villarreal coach Emery was also able to give some rest to Danjuma, Giovani Lo Celso, Juan Foyth and Francis Coquelin over the weekend, making 10 changes in LaLiga.
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With 85 goals in 105 appearances, Robert Lewandowski boasts the best scoring ratio of the Champions League era (0.81 goals per game), ahead of Lionel Messi (0.8) and Cristiano Ronaldo (0.77).
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Alphonso Davies is set to make his 110th competitive appearance for Bayern. He has 20 Champions League games under his belt.
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