LONDON: Real Madrid reached the Champions League semifinals with a 2-0 win against Chelsea that wrapped up an emphatic 4-0 aggregate triumph, effectively putting an end to the struggling London club’s season.
With Frank Lampard back in the dugout for a second spell, the Blues came into the match at Stamford Bridge with confidence. They started off good but rued two important missed chances in the first half that would have brought the defending champions under pressure.
The Spanish giants took the wind out of Chelsea’s sails when Rodrygo scored from close range in the 58th minute after an assist by Vinicius Juniors.
He found the net again with 10 minutes to go, tapping home after a clever assist from Federico Valverde.
It was Chelsea’s second-biggest aggregate defeat in the Champions League, after their 7-1 loss against Bayern Munich over two legs in the 2019-20 last 16.
Following Lampard’s returned to the club as caretaker boss earlier this month in place of the sacked Graham Potterhe, the 2021 European champions were unable to win any of their last four matches – their four consecutive losses for the first time since 1993.
Real Madrid will likely compete against Manchester City in the semifinals with Pep Guardiola’s team 3-0 up against Bayern after the first leg of their last-eight tie.
