Rodrygo forced extra time and Karim Benzema struck the decisive blow after Chelsea had taken a three-goal lead.
Real Madrid reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with a remarkable 5-4 aggregate success after extra time against Chelsea, who were on the verge of one the competition’s greatest turnarounds when leading 3-0 late in normal time.
Key moments
15′: Mount reduces aggregate deficit for Chelsea
51′: Rüdiger’s thumping header levels tie at 3-3
75′: Werner completes turnaround for Blues
80′: Rodrygo volleys in wonderful Modrić cross
96′: Benzema header edges Madrid through
Match in brief: Madrid progress after all-time classic.
Thomas Tuchel switched to a back four with his Chelsea side trailing 3-1 from their home leg and the tactical tweak had the desired effect as the visitors dominated the first half and halved the aggregate deficit when Mason Mount whipped a 15th-minute finish past Thibaut Courtois.
Madrid showed little of their first-leg swagger in the opening 45 minutes, Karim Benzema’s deflected drive the only moment of significance for Carlo Ancelotti’s charges.
Chelsea maintained their momentum after the restart and stunned the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu again when Antonio Rüdiger towered above the home defence to head in Mount’s corner and level the aggregate score. Then, after Marcos Alonso’s crashing drive had been ruled out for a handball and Benzema clipped the bar at the other end, the turnaround looked to be complete as Timo Werner tiptoed through and drove his finish under Courtois.
As in the last round against Paris, Madrid appeared beaten only to conjure something special and haul themselves back into the contest. Luka Modrić was the architect, producing a stunning outside-of-the-boot cross for substitute Rodrygo to volley in. Yet even that would not have been enough to force extra time had Chelsea substitute Christian Pulišić not spurned two late chances.
The home side were buoyed by their second chance and Benzema would not be denied a starring role. The French forward, who headed in twice in the first leg, repeated the trick from Vinícius Júnior’s teasing cross to give the hosts the lead again overall and this time Tuchel’s men could not respond, Kai Havertz and Jorginho passing up late openings.
*Reaction*
Nacho, Real Madrid defender: “Incredible – one more of these nights here at the Bernabéu. The tie became very difficult for us. It was similar to the Paris game. It gives you goosebumps each time you experience a night like this at the Bernabéu. We have a lot to improve, especially from the start of the game, but that’s Real Madrid – we are taught from a young age that you never give up.”
Luka Modrić, Real Madrid midfielder: “Unbelievable. We were dead until the goal that we scored. I cannot say that we played a bad game but they took their chances well and scored the goals. We knew even after the first game it would be tough because for me they’re the most difficult team to play against.”
Antonio Rüdiger, Chelsea defender: “The positive is that we didn’t give up. Not many teams can come here and dominate them, as we did. Over the two legs, if you make the type of mistakes that we did, you get punished. We controlled the game and didn’t panic. I think we did it quite well. In the second half, we scored goals and did everything we could.”
Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea coach: “We are very disappointed and very proud at the same time because we played a fantastic match. We deserved what we had – we scored four goals and we had big chances to score even more. We were unlucky, that is why we are disappointed. We got beaten by pure individual qualities.”
