PARIS: For 80 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu, it was all Chelsea. At their own stadium, Real Madrid hadn’t turned up.
The hosts had seen their 3-1 lead from the first leg in London evaporate and Chelsea, the holders, were set to vanquish them for a second season running. Goals from Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner had put them ahead on aggregate. The semi-finals seemed within touching distance.
But then, Luka Modric touched the ball. As he looked up, he saw his team-mate Rodrygo, on as a substitute just two minutes earlier, running into the Chelsea box. With the outside of his foot, the Croatian midfield genius lifted a sumptuous 50-yard pass over the top of the Chelsea defence that landed perfectly for Rodrygo to lash it home first-time on the volley past Edouard Mendy.
The comeback was on; an enthralling tie level on aggregate, their home fans finally finding their voice.
And then six minutes into extra-time came the goal that decided it. From who else but Karim Benzema, Real’s hat-trick hero from the first leg of this quarter-final tie; the Frenchman, who had headed against the bar with Chelsea 2-0 up, finally finding a yard of space to make the difference. Vinicius Junior’s cross from the left had Rudiger scrambling and as he slipped, Benzema stooped to bury it past Mendy.
After that, as much as they tried, Chelsea couldn’t find the goal to force penalties. They had chances too but their title defence will go no further. Manager Thomas Tuchel felt his side were “unlucky”; Rudiger said his side had “dominated”.
But Real, in this competition which they’ve won a record 13 times, always seem to find a way. They’re never finished.
Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester City, the best team in England at this point in time, and Liverpool, the second-best, might stand between them and a 14th European Cup but it’s this unerring belief that pulls them out of moments of despair and makes them the ultimate kings of Europe.
In the May 28 final at the Stade de France in Paris, Real could even face Villarreal; their less storied Spanish rivals who continue to punch above their weight and earlier on Tuesday became the first team to go through the semi-finals when they ousted yet another European heavyweight in Bayern Munich.
Their path into the last four, for the first time since 2006, was just as dramatic.
CHUKWUEZE STUNS BAYERN
Having gotten past Juventus in the round of 16, Unai Emery’s side grabbed a 1-1 draw in Munich thanks to Samuel Chukwueze’s 88th-minute goal to stun Bayern in Munich and advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Led on the night by former Real defender Raul Albiol, one of the elder statesmen in the side at 36 alongside another ex-Real player Dani Parejo, the side had two shots on goal over the two legs and took them both.
Bayern, who won their sixth Champions League title in 2020, put unrelenting pressure on Emery’s side at the Allianz Arena and grabbed the lead through Robert Lewandowski seven minutes into the second half. That was just a minute after Chelsea had levelled their tie in the Spanish capital through Rudiger’s header.
The magic of the Champions League was being delivered at two venues about 1500km apart. The two sides which went into their ties trying to overturn deficits were now level. It was all to play for; a question of which side would wilt first.
That would be Bayern. Having peppered the Villarreal goal, it was on a devastating counterattack that they conceded the goal that would knock them out. Like Rodrygo for Real, Chukwueze too had an almost immediate impact. Four minutes after coming on, the Nigerian got on the end of a cross by Gerard Moreno from the left, sweeping it into the roof of the net on the run with his left foot.
“We didn’t lose it today,” Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said. “Unfortunately we didn’t score the second goal.”
Albiol said “the dream goes on” for his side, which won the Europa League last season after beating Manchester United in the final. Potential semi-final opponents Liverpool would be wary. Villarreal are a well-drilled and an organised side, who have developed a taste for upsetting European football’s aristocracy.
Bayern’s defeat put into focus manager Julian Nagelsmann’s decision to haul off left-back Lucas Hernandez for Alphonso Davies. The Canadian was bullied by Chukwueze to bundle home the equaliser that put his side ahead on aggregate.
“THIS IS MADNESS!” Villarreal tweeted at the full-time whistle. It was.
And shortly afterwards, there was mayhem in Madrid.
“Nights like this at the Bernabeu give you goosebumps,” Real defender Nacho Fernandez said.
CHELSEA DENIED HEROIC COMEBACK
Chelsea had put Real out at the semi-final stage last season enroute to winning their second Champions League title but even Tuchel had claimed it was mission impossible for his side to come back from the first leg deficit.
That would prove true in the end but they did come within 10 minutes of completing an astonishing rescue act.
Mount’s goal in the 15th minute set the tone, Real immediately consumed by tension and Chelsea given early hope.
Mateo Kovacic had been key in the build-up but it was Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s quick pass into Werner that caught Real cold, the German steering the ball with his knee into the path of Mount, who advanced and fired past Thibaut Courtois.
Chelsea were even more aggressive after the break and scored their second when Rudiger guided home a header from a Werner corner.
Four minutes later, Werner found Marcos Alonso inside the area and he thrashed his finish into the top corner only to see his effort chalked off by the video assistant referee who had spotted a handball from the Spanish left back.
With the visitors on top, however, it was only a matter of time until they scored their third which arrived in the 75th minute from a brilliant piece of individual skill from Werner, who left two opponents on the ground before dispatching a precise shot past Courtois and inside the far post.
But then, Modric and Benzema stepped up and Real only needed two moments of inspiration to advance. That was what they relied on during their run of becoming the first team in the Champions League era to win three successive titles from 2016. That’s what they did when current manager Carlo Ancelotti was in-charge back in 2014 when they won their 10th European Cup.
Till they have players like Modric and Benzema, with their combined 70 years of age belying another two vintage contributions, they will always be difficult to write off.
“It was another incredible night, what a sweet tasting loss,” Modric said. “We didn’t give up until the end. Another night of suffering, but the important thing is that we have qualified.”
In the end, that’s the only thing that matters
