Last year it was far more interesting. Same competition, same teams, but the score was 5-4 on aggregate. Chelsea overcame their 3-1 deficit in London and nearly defeated Real in Madrid in the second leg, only to allow Rodrygo and Benzema’s to score goal and ruin everything. But this time around, it was as nearly as exciting. There were chances, the match was good, but in the first leg of the quarter-final match there was no uncertainty at all: Real Madrid – Chelsea 2-0.20 – Karim Benzema has scored 20 goals against English opponents in the UEFA Champions League, with only Lionel Messi scoring more (27). Standard. pic.twitter.com/OicteA3Eut— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 12, 2023 The current European champions are not good in La Liga, but this is their competition. They were again shaky in defense (a few times), but Chelsea is too weak to use this. The Blues spent millions and millions of pounds in the last two transfer windows only to be worse than year before. The once Champions League winner Frank Lampard came as a caretaker manager but just like in his first tenure with the Blues, didn’t do much. The visitors had two chances during the whole match, and were overruned and overplayed in all phases of the game.real madrid vs chelseagoal for real madrid scored by benzema pic.twitter.com/qPaNDD2yIu— Bu Hasna (@G6Kaiser) April 12, 2023 The trio of Vinicus, Rodrygo and Valverde destroyed Chelsea with it’s pace and Fofana and Coulibaly looked terrible. The Frenchman got the first yellow card in the third minute and had to be careful, the Senegal international got injured and Chilwell got the red card in the second half, making a night even worse for Chelsea. The Blues have only scored 12 goals in their last 18 matches, but they haven’t bought a proper striker, so their front two in this match consisted of Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling. The result – 0 goals.GOAL! Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea (Asensio) #RMACHE pic.twitter.com/Aqus7GvyFe— Timeless 𝒞𝓀𝓌 🥶⃤♐ (@t4ankgod_ckw) April 12, 2023 Joao Felix could have silenced the Santiago Bernabeu crowd in the second minute of the match. Chelsea developer a quick counterattack and Atletico Madrid loanee had to react better. Instead, his low, angled shot was repelled by Courtois. Valverde tried out his famous long distance shot in the 17th minute, but the ball went over the bar. But four minutes later Carvajal made a terrific pass over the top and Vinicius controlled the ball and took a shot, Kepa could only touch it a bit, but Benzema was there for tap in for the lead. Chelsea must have been very disappointed with their first half display, as they had another big chance and missed it. Courtois produced a huge near-post save as Sterling tried to turn home James’ low cross.Vinícius Júnior has been directly involved in 35 goals across all competitions this season, more than any other LaLiga player. ✨ https://t.co/qeno8OgFJr— Squawka (@Squawka) April 12, 2023 With a total of 8 shots on target in the first half, Real was in full control of the match, and the home team continued with its domination in the second half too. And the quickness of Real players was again on full display, as Rodrygo passed Chilwell, who was forced to stop him with his hands, and as a last player, he got a straight red card. After that, it was just a matter of time when the second goal will come, as the visitor were already bad with 11 players, not to mention with 10. And it happened in the 74th minute, when Asensio (who came in just three minutes before) took a shot, and the ball went through the ‘forest’ of legs and straight into the goal. It was more than deserved victory for Real, who are all but secured their place in the semi-final, even before the second game.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEQuarter-final, first legTuesdayMan.City – Bayern 3-0 (1-0)/Rodri 27, SIlva 70, Haaland 76/Benfica – Inter 0-2 (0-0)/Barella 51, Lukaku 82 pen/WednesdayReal Madrid – Chelsea (2-0 (1-0)/Benzema 21, Asensio 74/Milan – Napoli 1-0 (1-0)/Bennacer 40/
