Real Madrid booked their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Chelsea 5-4 on aggregate in a thrilling encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium that that will be remembered for a very long time.
Thomas Tuchel’s side started on the front foot and took the lead through Mason Mount’s strike after 15 minutes. Chelsea continued to dominate and they doubled their lead in the 51st minute when Antonio Rudiger headed Mount’s corner past Thibaut Courtois.
Real Madrid continued to struggle and found themselves 3-0 down as Timo Werner’s strike took a slight deflection off Courtois. Rodrygo entered the pitch to replace Casemiro in the 78th minute and the Brazilian forward made an instant impact just two minutes later. Luka Modric found him with a superb ball with the outside of his foot and Rodrygo sidefooted it past Edouard Mendy.
With the score tied 4-4 on aggregate, the game headed into extra time. The hosts went ahead in the 96th minute thanks to Karim Benzema’s fourth goal of the tie to take his side into the last four.
The 13-time champions will play Manchester City or Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.
Speaking to BT Sport, Real Madrid’s Luka Modric said: “Unbelievable to describe this game. We were dead until the goal we scored. Chelsea scored three goals, maybe the first a bit lucky from a deflection. I can’t say we played badly. They used their chances well and scored the goals.
We didn’t give up. We kept believing, fighting and in the end showed huge character.
“This stadium and the fans were very helpful when we were losing 3-0. They kept supporting us and it gave us a boost to keep believing.
“The manager did great changes. They did well. In this competition experience is playing an important role and I think today it helped us a bit. For me, they are the most difficult team to play against. They are a tough, physical team. We knew it would be tough.
“In the end we showed great character, desire and togetherness to manage to turn it around. A defeat that is very sweet.”
Elsewhere, Villarreal booked their place in the semi-finals after a 1-1 (2-1 on aggregate) draw with Bayern Munich.
The Athletic
