Real Madrid got better of Chelsea to secure a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the second consecutive season. In his second stint, Frank Lampard is now without a win in his first four matches as a Chelsea caretaker.
Los Blancos travelled from Bernabeu to Stamford Bridge with a comfortable lead of two goals. Chelsea were completely outplayed in the first-leg but Frank Lampard’s men did put on a better show in front of their home fans.
Chelsea started the game positively with high pressing and could have went ahead in the opening half but it wasn’t enough for the London blues as the difference between the two sides was clearly visible in the later part of the match.
Real Madrid scored democratically in both the legs and ended the tie 4-0 on aggregate. Also read:Manchester United couldn’t hang on despite taking the lead
Lampard made some big changes from the first-leg, he started with 3-4-2-1 formation placing right footed Trevoh Chalobah at unusual Left- CB position, Cucurella and Reece James as wing backs with Enzo and Kovacic playing as pivot, Kante functioned as no 10 higher up in the pitch with Havertz and Gallagher.
A Little one-two exchanges between Kante and James was seen in the right flank as Chelsea overloaded the right-wing in the first half, Camavinga played as an inverted full-back with Madrid on possession and was vertically agressive but his positioning was questionable as he didn’t come up with answers to the Reece James’ threat.
Madrid were happy to defend with their low-block in the first half and had Chelsea maximised the chances in the opening half this would have been a different story. N’Golo Kante dragged a bouncing ball wide from 10 yards in the 10th minute and right at the stroke of half time James’ cross from the right flank reached Cucurella, Thibaut Courtois pulled an exceptional save to deny Cucurella’s shot which was going in.
On the other hand, Carlo Ancelotti went with unchanged and usual 4-3-3 line up, while the veterans usually take the spotlight, it was a game where youngsters stood up and sealed the victory for Los Blancos. Also read:Match Recap: Dortmund lose out on the title in a matter of seconds
Rodrygo netted a brace in the second half to do the job for Madrid. In the 58th minute the tie was settled by a quick Real Madrid counter through the right, Rodrygo beat his marker and crossed the ball to Benzema which ends up with Vinicius, the Brazilian finds a space to pass it back to Rodrygo to tap in.
After Madrid took a 3-0 lead on aggregate the difference between the two sides was clearly visible, 10 minutes prior to 90′ Rodrygo did the icing on the cake with an another goal, Vinicius junior feeds Fede Valverde on the edge of the box and then the midfielder danced through Chelsea defenders before setting up for Rodrygo to tap in to make it 4-0 on aggregate for Real Madrid.
After the game Frank Lampard said: “I picked a team today that I thought was the most in-form team and the fittest team and they showed they can compete with Real Madrid, other than the final third stuff. It is important to take each step. Also read:Premier League Shuffles: Title race heats up as Arsenal drop points
“People will make a lot of this season for Chelsea because we have had so much success. The reality is this club is going to be back, it will take work and process. But I think the fans appreciated the performance today, and maybe this season they have had moments where they’re not feeling like that. We have to latch onto that, get results at the end of the season and performances and go again next year.”
Real Madrid have now won their past six Champions League knockout matches, setting a new club record for a winning streak in the competition’s knockout stages. All six of them come against English teams.
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