(Real Madrid – Chelsea 2–3 eeo, 5–4 overall) When it mattered most, he was there again, Karim Benzema (34), and sent Real Madrid to the semi-finals of the Champions League with a beautiful heading.
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Real Madrid will meet either Manchester City or Atlético Madrid in the semi-final, it will be decided on Wednesday.
– For some heroes, for a match, TV 2’s Jesper Mathisen shouted about the Real Madrid players when the referee blew off after the extra innings.
– It is a couple of magical moments from Modric and Benzema that sent Real Madrid to the semifinals, says TV 2’s Petter Myhre after the match.
– It should not be possible to hit such a type of post with the outside of the foot from that position, but Luka Modric is perhaps the only one in the world who can, and he does it in a masterful way, said Mathisen.
–That magic is more about further down in this case.
Reigning Champions League champions Chelsea had a big task ahead of them on Tuesday night. They lost 1-3 at home last Wednesday, but gave Real Madrid a real battle for the semi-final place on Tuesday night.
– We deserved to move on, but we were not lucky enough, says Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel in an interview shown on TV 2.
– Over the two matches we made one, two, three big mistakes too much, but today we were just unlucky. There was only one team that deserved to move on, Tuchel believes.
Everything was in place for another semi-final for Real Madrid, who are chasing their eighth title in the Champions League. Real Madrid opened the best, but after only 15 minutes, Mason Mount put the ball in goal for the guest from London, an ever so small fist in the middle of the wood for the all-whites.
And Chelsea had more.
Six minutes after the break, Antonio Rüdiger stepped up on a corner and headed in 2-0. The corner kick was brilliantly hit by Mason Mount, who scored the first.
Expectations were high for what the French veteran Karim Benzema could achieve after a hat trick against both PSG and Chelsea in the Champions League in recent weeks.
–But Benzema did not find his way to the goal in regular time.
Timo Werner did the trick. A quarter of an hour before full time he pulled away Casemiro, who went straight down on his ass and sat down, Werner pulled in and shot. The ball went through a small change of direction and into goal.
– We are talking about one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the Champions League, said TV 2 commentator Øyvind Alsaker when Chelsea was still ahead.
After 78 minutes, Real Madrid manager Carlos Ancelotti took Casemiro off and put Rodrygo in. It took two minutes before it paid off. With a wonderful, insane and goosebumps-fitting pass with the outside of the right foot from Luka Modric, Rodrygo gets it perfectly served in front of goal. Rodrygo takes it on a volley and puts it in goal with the wide side from ten meters. It was Modric magic at the highest level.
Thus, the teams were again the same distance, 4-4 in length.
And when it came to the very best, then Karim Benzema was there. Six minutes into overtime, it was the 34-year-old giant who stabbed the ball in goal. Of course it was him.
Benzema has delivered and delivered, and when he decided again, it exploded at the stadium in Madrid. The Santiago Bernabeu is Benzema’s playground. He tightened his arm and clenched his fist at the home fans who roared in joy at the 34-year-old.
After the match, he and Modric walked around and patted his mouth with big smiles, while broken Chelsea players walked around with tears in their eyes.
Chelsea is out.
–See more statistics for the Champions League on VG Live.–
