After more than 210 minutes of intense UEFA Champions League quarterfinal action, Chelsea had documented almost twice as many expected goals as Real Madrid (4.58 – 2.58). However, defensive errors across the two legs and individual brilliance from Real Madrid’s key players meant the holders were headed out of the competition after losing 5-4 on aggregate.
Thomas Tuchel’s men won 3-2 on the night and, for a brief period, looked to have completed an incredible comeback to book their berth in the next round, but for it to be in vain.
Mason Mount put Chelsea ahead in the 15th minute with a thumping finish from inside the box. The Englishman had the ball knocked in his stride by Timo Werner after Chelsea had won it high up the pitch, and he slammed it with his side-foot just out of reach of a fully-extended Thibaut Courtois.
Mount turned provider for his team’s second goal of the night, headed in by Antonio Rudiger minutes into the second half, from a corner.
Barely an hour played, and Chelsea were level on aggregate – 3-3, as it was then – and a 63rd-minute strike from Marcos Alonso had the Blues dugout celebrating again, but for VAR to rule it out for a handball in the build-up. The disallowed goal seemed to have kicked Loc Blancos into action as, three minutes later, Karim Benzema rattled the crossbar at the other end with a header.
Chelsea went ahead on aggregate in the 75th minute, courtesy of Werner’s goal; the German collected the ball on the right, cut inside, and dummied his way past two defenders before squeezing his shot under Courtois. The Real Madrid custodian made amends three minutes later as he parried away a goalbound header from Kai Havertz.
That, in turn, allowed Real Madrid to score at the other end, which they did through substitute Rodrygo Goes, who scored off an outside-of-the-boot pass from Luka Modric in the 80th minute, forcing extra time.
In the additional 30 minutes, Real Madrid – and Benzema’s – individual quality stood out. The Frenchman headed the ball past Edouard Mendy to pull another goal back in the 96th minute, making it 3-2 on the night after a defensive error from N’Golo Kante.
Los Blancos held firm during the subsequent Chelsea onslaught and progressed to the next round – 5-4 on aggregate.
