After a bruising 4-1 defeat at home to Brentford on Saturday, Chelsea saw their hopes of retaining the Champions League blow up in smokes. Real Madrid, thanks to a Karim Benzema masterclass, ran out comfortable 3-1 winners, reducing Stamford Bridge to rubbles for the second time in five days. It leaves the European Champions with a miracle task of overcoming a two-goal deficit at Santiago Bernabeu next week.
Real Madrid gain revenge for last year’s semi-final loss
If you look at the performance, it wasn’t all that bad from Chelsea. Edouard Mendy’s howler aside, the Blues played quite well and gave their visitors a good fight. A quick glance at the stats shows Thomas Tuchel’s men registered more shots and equal number of shots on target compared to Madrid. However, it was two moments of pure quality and the aforementioned blunder from Mendy that cost Chelsea.
Benzema has come into his own ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left and at 34, has 37 goals in 36 games this season. His sublime hattrick takes his tally to 11 in 8 in the Champions League, making it back-to-back hattricks in the competition. His excellent form and understanding with Vinicius Jr. has made Real Madrid a dangerous outfit. They are already well clear in La Liga and are now among the favourites to add to their long list of European titles.
Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku have found it tough going
For Chelsea, it has been a tough campaign. They were out of the title race by January and now seem set to relinquish their Champions League crown. After seemingly bolstering their attack with the signing of Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea were expected to go deep in all competitions. However, they look out of both Premier League and Champions League by early April. This was not what was expected when the pre-season targets were mapped out.
Lukaku has found it tough going at the club and is not even a starter anymore. On Wednesday, Benzema ruthlessly showed what Chelsea are missing and what Lukaku is not offering. The Belgian came on as a second half substitute but failed to impact the game in any positive manner. His form pretty much sums up how his club’s season as a whole has progressed.
It looks like the FA Cup is the only trophy Chelsea can realistically win this season.