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Club teams often have waves of players from certain countries, as managers bring players they know from their native lands.
Chelsea had a Portuguese stage, a Spanish stage a couple of years ago, and have long had an Italian streak.
We also had a strong Belgian contingent for years – before that too died away.
Tonight Italy play Belgium in the European Championship Quarter Finals, and there will be a host of past and present Blues on display.
In the Italian corner we have two current players: Jorginho in the starting lineup, plus Emerson Palmieri likely on the bench.
There’s also some potential future signings in the mix – there’s a lot of excitement about Manuel Locatelli, and we’ve been linked to Leonardo Spinazzola in recent days too.
In the Belgian corner, it’s the ghosts of Chelsea past. Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne who slipped through our fingers. Eden Hazard who was torn from us, and his brother Thorgan who has impressed since leaving.
Despite the fact that one team is filled with ex-Blues, and the other has some current players in the mix, there’s likely to be split loyalties all round. We all still love Eden Hazard, we all want Romelu Lukaku back, and we’re all huge KdB fans – as a player at least.
Betting sites like Mega Reels have Italy as the favourites to win the match at the Allianz Arena, perhaps because of the injuries hanging over some of the key Belgium stars – de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Timothy Castagne are all doubts.
But we wouldn’t write off any team with this much talent, and we’ve seen too many of their stars shining in the Premier League to see them as anything other than a super dangerous side.
Italy look exceptionally strong, and while they don’t have as many familiar players to those who exclusively watch the Premier League, they have a few who look set to join the English top flight in the very near future. This tournament – and in particular tonight’s game – could be a real showcase for any Azzuri looking to prove themselves as top options for English teams.
All in all we’re in for a thriller all round, and for Chelsea fans in particular it looks set to be a fascinating game with plenty at stake and plenty to think about.
And that’s before we even get to Spain – Switzerland in the early kick off…
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