Real Madrid Outlasts Chelsea in Thriller, Advances to Champions League Semifinals
Karim Benzema is inevitable.
The French star scored the winning goal in extra time as Real Madrid sent Chelsea packing 5-4 on aggregate in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Benzema put Chelsea to the sword in the first leg with a hat trick at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel didn't mince words about his club's precarious position. He said immediately after the 3-1 first-leg defeat on Wednesday that the Blues would "get hammered at the Bernabeu" with a similar showing in the return fixture.
Tuchel's tone didn't change much Monday.
"It is one of the biggest challenges to perform away at the Bernabeu," he told reporters. "It is even more difficult if you have to earn a certain result, if you need to win with a minimum of two goals or better or maybe a three-goal difference, that makes it almost impossible and very, very difficult, but still it is worth trying."
If the German was trying to deploy some reverse psychology, it certainly seemed to work in the first half.
Mason Mount opened the scoring in the 15th minute, continuing what has been a rich vein of form.
Beyond just Mount's goal, Chelsea registered eight total shots and two on target. Real Madrid was limited to three shots, all of which were wide of the mark.
Perhaps the first-place club in La Liga was guilty of resting on its laurels a bit because Madrid flattered to deceive in the opening half. And with the abolition of the away goals rule, the one-goal aggregate lead wasn't as advantageous as it would've been in years past.
Chelsea only needed one more tally to make things really interesting, and Antonio Rudiger duly delivered in the 51st minute.
Real Madrid had reason to feel aggrieved, though, since the goal came from a corner that shouldn't have been a corner in the first place.
Marcos Alonso appeared to net Chelsea's third goal of the match in the 62nd minute when he fired a right-footed shot inside the far post from close range. However, the goal was taken off the board when he was judged to have handled the ball prior to the attempt.
Fresh off a brace in the Blues' 6-0 demolition of Southampton, Timo Werner left no room for interpretation when he feinted twice and managed to sneak the ball just under Thibaut Courtois in the 75th minute.
Chelsea's 4-3 aggregate advantage didn't hold for very long. In the 80th minute, Luka Modric floated an inch-perfect pass to Rodrygo, who volleyed home the equalizer. Between the assist and the finish, it was a masterful piece of attacking.
In the second minute of second-half injury time, Christian Pulisic could've dealt the decisive blow. His volley from inside the box sailed over the bar.
While that was a costly miss, Tuchel had plenty of reason to believe his players could make the vital breakthrough in extra time.
Then Benzema happened.
As many have reflected already, the attention and credit being paid to the 34-year-old are long overdue. Because he shared the pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo, his contributions at Real Madrid have often been overlooked.
Now that he's the main man, it's impossible to ignore Benzema's contributions, which puts his time at the club into a different context. He has undoubtedly earned his place alongside the greatest players to step into the dressing room at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid will wait for the second leg of Manchester City and Atletico Madrid's matchup to learn of its opponent in the semifinals. City holds a 1-0 lead ahead of Wednesday's clash at Wanda Metropolitano in the Spanish capital.
