The Blues, led by head coach Harry Hudson, face their Spanish counterparts in a single-legged Round of 16 tie on Wednesday afternoon. Kick-off at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium is at 3pm UK time and you can watch the game live for free on the Chelsea Official App and website.

Eight years ago, a quarter-final tie between the sides in the Spanish capital turned into a veritable classic, which we remember here.

Chelsea – winners of the competition in 2015 and 2016 – had progressed from our group comfortably and then dispatched Feyenoord 5-2 in the Round of 16. Real Madrid, meanwhile, had overcome Bayern Munich at the same stage.

For our game in the Spanish capital, Joe Edwards included Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah in his team, as well as Conor Gallagher and Ethan Ampadu. James featured at right wing-back, with Chalobah deployed in central midfield.

The Blues lined up as follows in a 3-4-2-1 formation: Jamie Cumming; Dujon Sterling, Ampadu, Josh Grant (c); James, Chalobah, Jacob Maddox, Juan Castillo; Luke McCormick, Harvey St Clair; Daishawn Redan

Our substitutes wereMarcin Bulka, Joseph Colley, Cole Dasilva, Marc Guehi, Gallagher, George McEachran, Martell Taylor-Crossdale

Things got off to a bad start for the young Blues when Oscar Rodriguez smashed in an unstoppable 30-yard free-kick, but the response combined quality with personality.

McCormick’s coolly-taken equaliser was followed by a Redan brace (celebrated top), all before the break. James provided near-identical assists – trademark right-wing crosses – for both the Dutch striker’s goals, although Real felt the first shouldn’t have stood after what looked like a handball.

Real reduced the deficit to 3-2 on the hour and things were made harder for the Blues ten minutes later when Maddox was harshly dismissed.

Our hosts threw everything forward in search of a late leveller, with Cumming making a significant save in the closing moments as the heavens opened.

However, in the fifth minute of added time, Harvey St Clair capitalised on a goalkeeping error to run the ball into an empty net. Chelsea had won a topsy-turvy tie 4-2.

After the game, Edwards reflected on a performance that wasn’t perfect but had the raw ingredients of determination, clinicalness and a hunger to win.

‘It’s obviously a huge result for us to come away to Real Madrid in a quarter-final and get the win,’ he said.

‘We actually made it a lot more difficult for ourselves than it needed to be. There were spells of the game where we played in the way we set out to play and we looked comfortable, but I felt we could have been comfortable for much longer periods.

‘The second half just became a crazy game. In the long term, that sort of experience for the players is not a bad thing but we had to work hard and really dig in, especially with ten men.

‘The red card put us really up against it faced with a team who are good in possession with an extra man on a really big pitch. It was difficult for our lads and we were hanging on a bit but we showed a lot of guts and bravery, stuck together as a team and then the icing on the cake was Harvey’s goal in stoppage time to cap off a great result.’

The victory sent our youngsters into the semi-finals of the Youth League for the third time in four seasons. In Nyon, which will this year once again host the tournament finale, Chelsea defeated Porto on penalties in the last four before losing to Real’s great rivals, Barcelona, in the final.

Hudson's youngsters will be hoping to go one better this time around.

Get behind the boys!

Chelsea Under-19s will be in action on Wednesday afternoon against Real Madrid in the UEFA Youth League. Kick-off is at 3pm UK time at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.

Chelsea supporters around the world can watch the match live for free on the Chelsea Official App and website. To access the stream, either follow the Real Madrid vs Chelsea Under-19s Match Centre below or head to the homepage shortly before kick-off.