Chelsea were leading 3-0 at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu before Rodrygo and Karim Benzema scored to earn Madrid a semi-final ticket on aggregate
By Kehinde Okeowo
Chelsea faced La Liga leaders, Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu hoping to upturn the 3-1 loss at home last week and progress to the semi-final of this year’s Champions League.
Karim Benzema’s hat-trick at Stamford Bridge meant Real Madrid came into the return leg of the rounds of eight with a two-goal cushion.
However, it was The Blues who opened the scoring when Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s flick-on was pushed into the path of Mason Mount by Timo Werner and the English man curled home to make it 1-0 to Chelsea.
The visitors returned with more vigour in the second half and doubled their advantage when Antonio Rudiger rose highest to meet a corner from Mason Mount, heading Chelsea into a 2-0 lead and restoring parity on aggregate.
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Thomas Tuchel’s men then had a goal ruled out in the 62nd minute when a VAR review confirmed Marco Alonso used his hand to control the ball before scoring.
Chelsea made it 3-0 when Timo Werner was released behind the Madrid defence, he then cut inside one sliding defender and a second before firing a shot that found the bottom corner off Thibaut Courtois.
The goal spurred Madrid on as Luka floated a peach of a cross with the outside of his boot into the box, behind the Chelsea defence, and perfectly for Rodrygo to volley the game level again on aggregate.
Vinicius Jr then finds way too much space on the left and is allowed to charge into the Chelsea box before chipping up a cross towards Karim Benzema to power his header home for Madrid to reduce the deficit to 2-3.
The home side then held on and prevented Chelsea from getting the vital goal that would take the game to penalties, progressing to the semi-final on a 5-4 aggregate.
OTHER QUARTER-FINALS RESULT
Bayern Munich 1 vs Villarreal 1 (Agg 1-2) FT
