Highly anticipated with Chelsea before the quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday, the Frenchman has just returned from a long injury which sidelined him for almost seven months.
The light at the end of the tunnel. After seven months of absence due to a hamstring injury, which he underwent surgery in October, N’Golo Kanté is back. The Frenchman is expected to start with Chelsea against Real Madrid, Wednesday April 12, in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League. He could even wear the captain’s armband if the absences of veterans Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva are confirmed.
The midfielder was kept warm this weekend, rested by his new coach Frank Lampard during the defeat against Wolverhampton (0-1). After the match, the latter wanted to clear up any doubts about Kanté’s presence at the Santiago Bernabeu: “N’Golo will be ready, yes, as things stand. We’ve done everything to get him fit for the game”.
For the Blues, the return of the man who played a major role in the coronation in C1 two years ago is a relief. Morose in the absence of the 2018 world champion (currently eleventh in the Premier League), despite enormous resources committed to the transfer market since last summer, Chelsea found their colors at the same time as their player against Liverpool. a week ago, even if the victory was stolen (0-0).
Time for reconquest
N’Golo Kanté will return to Real Madrid for the third consecutive year, an opponent who brings back both good memories (the semi-final before the coronation in 2021) and less good ones, in this case the elimination in quarters last year, which remains his last appearance in the Champions League. With only two ends of the match in the legs, a doubt remains however as to his ability to be 100% for this crucial moment of the season.
In addition to the physical glitches, “NG” lives since his arrival in London in a heavy context. In a survey published in March, France Soccer revealed that the footballer had been threatened with a firearm (placed on his thigh) by the brother of one of his former agents, annoyed at not being officially included in the transfer of the player from Leicester to Chelsea in 2017, for which he wanted to earn a substantial commission.
For his part, the introvert Kanté is even more discreet in the media than he already was. His last interview facing the camera dates back to a year ago, when Canal + went to meet him before the round of 16 first leg of C1 against Lille. Since then, it’s as if the football planet had continued to turn without him. The France team had to do without his services in their last 14 games, going all the way to the World Cup final without him.