Rodrygo double and Madrid conquer London

2023-04-18 23:18:00

The UEFA Champions League and the Real Madrid, there are no more explanations than that. It could be the Madrid of the irregularity in LaLiga, the one of the injuries in the last weeks, but those European nights arrive and the ‘Merengue‘ becomes what he is, the top winner of this tournament.

It seemed easier on paper than all the leads talked about during the week. Madrid had to maintain the two-goal advantage achieved in the first leg, while on the other side was a Chelsea that has been a disaster of major proportions this seasonwith signings for hundreds of millions, changes of coaches, owners and out of the European positions for the next season.

An eleven with many changes

Lampard surprised with the starting eleven, leaving on the bench Joao Felix y a Sterlingmaintaining the scheme of three centrals, adding Chalobah for the injured Kalidou Koulibaly, one of the casualties left by the first leg, along with that of Ben Chilwell, expelled and replaced again by Marc Cucurella

On the other side, Madrid to the reliable, a 4-3-3 with Militao and Alaba as centrals, Camavinga and Carvajal on the sides, the midfield of the brains with Kroos, Modric and Fede Valverde, leaving the gala trident up: Vinicius, Rodrygo and Benzema.

As expected, The one who wanted to shake the board a bit from the beginning was Chelseapressing high at the start of Madrid, trying to force errors and recover quickly to get that first goal that put them in the game.

Courtois and another of his saves | Photo: Uefa

A few minutes passed and the first clear chance came at Kanté’s feet, who defined very badly a ball that had been left alone in front of Courtois. He will be able to justify that he had left for his less skilled leg, the left, but it was one of those chances that you cannot waste if you want to come back, much less against Madrid.

Precisely, los ‘You meringues‘ They responded with an offensive that ended with a shot from Rodrygo connecting against Kepa’s left post, a second in which more than one heart will have turned over in Stamford Bridge.

The script remained intact until the final minutes of the first stage, when Madrid first warned Valverde with a hellish run, from area to area, and then the homeowners responded with the first Madrid defensive disengagement, leaving Cucurella alone and forcing a save for Courtoisshrinking the goal to a minimum to avoid his fall.

Madrid does not forgive in the Champions League

Ancelotti surprised for the start of the complement, sending Antonio Ruediger to the field instead of David praises. The Austrian showed no signs of injury, so everything suggested that it was a move by the Italian coach to defend the aerial balls that, inevitably, were going to begin to fall near Courtois.

Although Chelsea pushed, Madrid is Madrid in UEFA Champions League. Forced by time, the local began to try to stand more and more in the rival field, spaces appeared and, with a field to run is where Vinicius and Rodrygo stand out the most, the two protagonists when the hour of play was up.

Rodrygo climbed down the right flank, looked for a connection with a cross back and found Vinicius, but the Brazilian striker was covered to define, he returned courtesies to his compatriot and he did not fail. As on that night of April 12 last year, at the Bernabéu, against the same rival, Rodrygo once again paved the way for Madrid to the semifinals.

Rodrygo and his nerves of steel to score the second goal | Photo: Uefa

Faced with the need to achieve at least three goals in less than half an hour, Lampard moved the bench and sent Joao Felix and Sterling to the field, the two that he had decided not to form part of the starting eleven. However, little changed over the course of the last quarter of an hour, other than the Real Madrid showing his superiority.

In a South American combination, Vinicius connected with Valverde, the Uruguayan got into the area with pure dribbling and left Rodrygo alone to sign his double and settle the game. The fans ‘Blues‘ began to leave the stands and the 0-4 overall proved them right, a Chelsea that tried to go for the epic, but collided head-on with a locomotive that is looking for its 15th European champion title and now awaits, in semifinals, by Manchester City o Bayern Munich.