A late comeback helped Real Madrid confirm their semi-final berth in the Champions League

Chelsea Football Club deserves a standing ovation because of the fight and the resilience that the team has shown for 120 minutes. A match, where they had a very little chance but Thomas Tuchel and his boys had 100% faith. There’s a famous saying that, “90 minutes is a long, long time at Santiago Bernabeu”, but it’s Chelsea who initially proved the statement to be true. Later what happened is something very usual in the Champions League. Real Madrid came from behind, scored a couple of goals and sealed their berth in the semi-finals of this prestigious tournament.

It doesn’t matter who you support but it’s incredible to see Chelsea getting out of their zone, fighting at Bernabeu and beating Real Madrid 3-0. Mason Mount gave the early blow to Real Madrid in the 15th minute. Soon after the half-time whistle, Rudiger made it 2-0 but the controversy broke right from that spot. Referee gave the corner to Chelsea but the ball didn’t touch any of Madrid’s players. Toni Rudiger was over the moon after he brought Chelsea level and the away fans blasted when Timo Warner made it 3-0 by dribbling past three defenders. Madrid was shell-shocked as if they have seen a ghost of themselves from the past but remember the line? “90 minutes is a long, long time at Santiago Bernabeu”.

Luka Modric – You cannot praise the man enough! In the 80th minute, the Croatian lobbed the ball to Rodrygo with his outside foot and the kid from Brazil made no mistake to bring Real Madrid back into the tie. You simply cannot put Madrid to rest in a Champions League game at least. The club is built for nights like this and in the 96th minute, Los Blancos showed that they are made different. Benzema scored a brilliant header from Vinicius’s cross and Mendy had no chance whatsoever to stop that.

Chelsea later created few more opportunities but they only have themselves to blame. They should have converted at least one of those chances but failed to register shots on target. With that, Carlo Ancelotti’s men reached another Semi-final of the Champions League and with this, the serious business will now start.

Thomas Tuchel was disappointed after the match and more so to see the referee laughing and chatting with Carlo Ancelotti. The German Boss of Chelsea said, “I think this is the wrong time to do this after a final whistle from 120 minutes where one team gave all their hearts and fought until the last drop. You go and see the referee smiling and laughing with the other coach, I think it is very, very bad timing. I told him this and that's it”.

The Chelsea boss further added, “There are no regrets. These are the kind of defeats you can take with pride as a sportsman”.