Real Cruise Past Chelsea For UCL Semi-Final Spot
19 April, 2023
Defending champions Real Madrid advanced to the semi-finals with a 4-0 aggregate victory over Chelsea in the quarter-finals.
UEFA Champions League
Report: Chelsea 0-2 Real Madrid (Real won 4-0 agg.)
Date: 18 April 2023
Venue: Stamford Bridge
The Blues made four changes from the 2-0 defeat in the first-leg a week ago, as Conor Gallagher, Marc Cucurella, Kai Havertz and Trevoh Chalobah were all brought in, while Reeal kept the same line-up from the first leg.
Chelsea had a bright start, with decent chances falling for them in the early exchanges but they did not have the killer-instincts in front of goal.
Once Los Blancos got going, they nearly went ahead with their first threatening attack on 20 minutes after Vinicius Junior was released through on goal on the side and instead of crossing, he went for goal as his shot came off the near post.
The slick passing movement from the visitors continued around the half-hour mark as Vinicius Junior went through on goal again from a pass by Rodrygo, cut inside and went for goal again but his stinging shot was repelled by goalkeeper Kepa.
The game opened up after that and Frank Lampard's troops should have been ahead on the stroke of half-time after Cucurella was picked out with a cross unmarked on the far side by Reece James but his shot was crucially saved by shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois.
The encounter was even more alive from the interval ad N'Golo Kante, eight minutes in, came close to breaking the deadlock for the Blues with a volley that blocked off the line by Eder Militao.
Chelsea committed numbers going forward and they were punished on a transition just before the hour-mark as Rodrygo broke the deadlock for Carlo Ancelotti's men and gave them a 3-0 lead on aggregate with a close-range range finish after a cut-back by Vinicius Junior.
Lampard injected fresh energy to his side with a triple change on 68 minutes as Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk were introduced to salvage something out of the game.
Madrid made their intentions clear of playing more on the break in the last 20 minutes, as Aurelien Tchouameni replaced Benzema in a tactical change to pack the midfield.
Los Blancos looked more threatening on their counter-attacks and Rodrygo doubled their lead and made it 4-0 on aggregate with a tap-in after a square pass by Federico Valverde, who got past Thiago Silva to go clear on goal.
Madrid were rotating the ball with confidence in the dying minutes as they booked their spot in the semi-finals while Chelsea lost their fourth game in a row in all competitions since Lampard was installed as interim manager.
Source: www.snl24.com
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