It’s a huge week for Christian Pulisic and Chelsea, as they will take on FC Porto in the Champions League second leg later tonight. They’ll do with a 2-0 advantage from the first leg of their quarterfinal tie. And Saturday brings a meeting with quadruple ambition Manchester City in the FA Cup semifinals.
Two big matches that will help shape the course of the Blues’ season. Pulisic, who has battled chronic injury, a reduction in role and a drop in form, admits his second season at Stamford Bridge hasn’t been easy. However, he also says that he’s feeling very strong and very good right now.
Chelsea vs FC Porto UCL Quarterfinal Leg 2/2 FYIs
Aggregate: Chelsea leads 2-0
Kickoff: Tue April 14, 8pm, Stamford Bridge
Team News for both sides: go here
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go here
Head to Head: Chelsea win 6 Draw 2 FC Porto Win 1
Odds: Chelsea win -120 Draw +270 FC Porto Win +320
Fast Fact: Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in 7 of their last 9 Champions League matches
“Personally I am feeling very good,” he said to ChelseaFC.com. “I am happy to be playing and helping the team whichever way I can. It was nice to get on the scoresheet and I am feeling very strong at the moment.
“I am doing my best to take care of myself. I have got to take care of my body and be strong and healthy for all the games.
“It has not been an easy season, there has been a lot of coming in and coming out and injuries, but I’m feeling healthy and strong right now.”
It certainly shows, right now, how good Pulisic is feeling. He has three goals in his last two league games, entering that stretch with just one scoring strike on the season up into that point. The American also hit the crossbar with a shot last week in the first leg of the UCL tie. So he was inches away from having scored in three straight matches.
He also was man of the match in Chelsea’s final outing before the international break, and claimed the plaudit again for the USA in a friendly versus Northern Ireland. In other words, it really seems like he’s turning the corner now. Having started and played a full match on the weekend, it is doubtful we see him in the first team tonight.
Pulsiic is thus set up to play a full workload again next weekend against City, a team he truly carved up during Project Restart this past summer. Overall, it is probably upward and onward now for Pulisic and company in 20/21. They are starting to look like Champions League titleist dark horses right now.
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Porto 1 (Chelsea advances 4-1 on aggregate)
Don’t expect Tuchel to let Chelsea coast here. He’ll keep on them, they’ll bring it again, and then pass through to the UCL semis.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.