Chelsea’s Champions League reign was supposed to end at the Bernabéu in Madrid Tuesday night, at least if Thomas Tuchel’s pre-match prognostications were to be taken at face value. So in one sense, he got what he expected. It’s unlikely the manager saw the exit unfolding quite like it did, though, an ouster despite victory over 120 minutes.
Chelsea, trailing 3–1 in the Champions League quarterfinals after the first leg, played superbly away to Real Madrid, at one point even had the aggregate lead and goes down in the books as a 3–2 second-leg winner. But on a night of collapses and comebacks in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid, as it is known to do on the European stage, found the necessary resolve and the necessary goals just when it needed them. Karim Benzema’s extra-time header—his fourth goal of the tie—settled a quarterfinal for the ages, 5–4 on aggregate, and it’s Real Madrid that will face either Manchester City or city rival Atlético Madrid in the Champions League semifinals, while Chelsea relinquishes its crown and braces for its uncertain future.
Chelsea’s press, reconstituted after a shaky week, successful stifled Madrid until it got level in the tie, at which point Madrid at last began to play. This was a stunning game of football, high on quality and high on drama. The key goal, the Rodrygo equalizer that took the game to extra-time, was the result of a moment of preposterous skill from Luka Modrić. After what it was able to accomplish Tuesday, Chelsea will wonder why it was so lax in the first half of the first leg. Madrid, meanwhile, will wonder how often Modrić and Benzema can keep producing moments of brilliance just when they are needed. But it’s a duo it’ll ride at least one more round in search of the club’s 14th continental crown.
