‘Tinderbox of controversies’ – Chelsea said to have many off-pitch issues right now

Chelsea face Real Madrid this evening in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

In Spain, there’s a strange slant ahead of the match, suggesting UEFA could encourage unfair refereeing against Zinedine Zidane’s side, as some kind of retaliation against Florentino Perez for the European Super League.

That takes the front page of Marca, and was the major topic for El Chiringuito on Monday evening. El Confidencial report Real Madrid’s players fear ‘reprisals’ in the form of decisions against them.

In a separate article, El Confidencial, for their Spanish audience, present Chelsea as something of a crisis club. Whilst things have been going well for Thomas Tuchel’s side on the pitch, it’s said they’re a ‘tinderbox of controversies’ off it.

First up, they mention reports of Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount being involved in a ‘clandestine party’.

Next, Jorginho’s perceived snipes at Frank Lampard are covered, and then it’s pointed out Chelsea fans displayed insults to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on some placards during their recent ESL demonstration.

None of this seems especially out of the ordinary for a big club, there doesn’t feel to be any more of a climate of crisis around Chelsea than others. Yet, seemingly, the Spanish media want to build that idea.