Real Madrid outclassed Chelsea 2-0 on Wednesday in front of their fans in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Karim Benzema and Vinicius shine.
Of course, the suspense wasn’t fully lifted. But the possibility of a future confrontation between Manchester City and Real Madrid, a real confrontation between Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, has something to dream about. The day after the Sky Blue card against Bayern Munich (3-0), Real Madrid also set foot in the Champions League semi-finals by dominating Chelsea (2-0), this Wednesday, in the first leg of the quarter-finals. . A more than logical result given the dominance exercised by the defending champions, after a year of epic quarter-finals between the two teams that saw Real obtain their ticket to the quarter-finals at the end of the suspense.
>> Subscribe to RMC Sport offers to watch the UEFA Champions League
>> Real Chelsea recover (2-0)
In Madrid, however, the story could have been different for the Blues. After 110 seconds of play, Joao Félix had the chance to shut out the Santiago Bernabéu. Driven deep by N’Golo Kanté, defending champion for only the fourth time this season, the Portuguese sprinted into the Merengue camp, before making the wrong decision. His hesitation upon completion of facilitating the return of Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois did not hesitate to block his attempt (2).
Benzema is still decisive, Vinicius is on fire
After scrambling for the first minutes, the locals quickly raised their voices. With the inspiring Vinicius Jr taking on the struggling Wesley Fofana in the 5-3-2 formation imagined by Frank Lampard. In the opener, it was the Brazilian who bested the former Stefano by taking it on his toes, the delicious opening fell to Dani Carvajal. Kepa was able to push the ball backwards, but right at Benzema’s feet, and was always in a good position to finish the move as calmly as a fox from the roofs (21′). His 14th goal in his last 9 matches in the C1 knockout stage. and his 90th goal overall in the competition. That’s it. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (141 goals), Lionel Messi (129) and Robert Lewandowski (91) perform better.
Returning to the wall, Chelsea responded immediately, but fell on the great Courtois, author of a great stop on a cross from Reece James, which was cut by Raheem Sterling in the near goal (23). But it was Real Madrid who continued to accelerate with the attempts of Rodrigo (34) and Federico Valverde (44). The same scenario in the second half with the Madrid team able to dictate its law and stifle the very chaotic London formation. Ben Chilwell’s red didn’t help. To stop Rodrygo, like Vinicius’s spin, the Englishman found nothing better than holding his arm close to the surface (59th).
In the tenth, Chelsea continued to fall behind, and ended up conceding a second goal on a service from Vinicius to Marco Asensio, decisive a few seconds after entering the game (74). A decisive goal for the qualifiers for the return match scheduled for next Tuesday at Stamford Bridge. In search of its 15th Champions League title, Real Madrid remembered that it did not plan to give up its possessions so easily.
