Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea: Player ratings as 10-man Blues comfortably beaten
By Tom Gott
Real Madrid put one foot into the Champions League semi-finals with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
Los Blancos were comfortably on top for the vast majority of the game and could have easily scored more than twice. Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the first half and Marco Asensio finished it after the break, after Ben Chilwell was shown a straight red for pulling down Rodrygo.
Chelsea focused on countering early on and Joao Felix went charging through one-on-one after just 90 seconds, but he was chased down by Eder Militao and could only send his shot directly at the grateful Thibaut Courtois.
The Blues were solid at the back as well and it took the ball-dominant Real 12 minutes for their first sight of goal. Benzema weaved his way into the box but was pushed into a narrow angle and fired into Kepa's arms.
Some sloppy play out from the back from Chelsea was punished 20 minutes in as Dani Carvajal played through Vinicius Junior, whose effort was palmed into the path of Benzema for a simple tap-in.
Chelsea nearly responded immediately as Reece James crossed to cause chaos in the box, but Courtois reacted fast to deflect the ball behind the post.
In an all-action first 25 minutes, Vinicius could have scored straight after as he burst into the box and dinked the ball over Kepa, but Thiago Silva was there to clear off the line.
Los Blancos started to take complete control, with wave after wave of attack going towards a Chelsea backline which, while looking a little frantic, dealt with most of the threat fairly well.
Things remained that way for the rest of the first half. Real ended with 60% possession and outshot Chelsea ten to three, having dominated things before the break but failed to add to their lead.
It was the same story to start the second half as Real came charging forwards. Just five minutes in, Luka Modric sent an effort curling over the bar from the edge of the box, with Chelsea still hanging on.
That task was made infinitely harder just before the hour mark as Ben Chilwell was shown a straight red card for pulling Rodrygo down as the last man.
Chelsea survived a further 15 minutes before the second goal went in. A quick corner landed at the feet of Asensio on the edge of the box, and the Spaniard bent his effort into the bottom corner.
Benzema should have added a third in the dying embers but surprisingly sent his header flying over the bar, before Mason Mount's attempt to pull one back was superbly blocked by Antonio Rudiger.
Overall, it was routine for Real, who will be frustrated not to be completely out of sight in the tie.
Real Madrid player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Thibaut Courtois - 7/10 - Made an excellent save to deny Sterling straight after the opening goal and looked comfortable all night long.
RB: Dani Carvajal - 7/10 - A glorious ball for the opening goal in what was an overall thoroughly impressive performance.
CB: David Alaba - 6/10 - Didn't really need to do a whole lot.
CB: Eder Militao - 7/10 - Great recovery pace to catch and deny Felix early on. Looked comfortable throughout.
LB: Eduardo Camavinga - 7/10 - Great energy down the left side. Barely tested defensively and allowed to get involved in everything in attack.
DM: Toni Kroos - 8/10 - Sloppy defensively in the early stages but soon settled into the game and started to control things. Metronomic with his passing.
CM: Luka Modric - 7/10 - Pressed with impressive energy to force Chelsea into mistakes at the back.
CM: Federico Valverde - 8/10 - Dominated in every position of the pitch. Physically a step above the rest but let himself down with some average finishing.
RW: Rodrygo - 7/10 - Probably the least involved of Real's front three but still a real threat.
ST: Karim Benzema - 8/10 - Dropped deep to link things up but showed his natural poacher to tap home the opener.
LW: Vinicius Junior - 7/10 - His dribbling was sensational but Vinicius' end product was a little underwhelming. Should have had more than just the ugly assist for the opener.
Substitutes
Marco Asensio (71' for Rodrygo) - 7/10 - A perfect introduction and could have had another goal.
Antonio Rudiger (71' for Camavinga) - 6/10 - Didn't really need to get involved before an excellent block to deny Mount late on.
Dani Ceballos (81' for Modric) - N/A
Aurelien Tchouameni (84' for Kroos) - N/A
Manager
Carlo Ancelotti - 8/10 - Took ten minutes to figure out how to cancel out Chelsea's threat and never looked back. The difference in level of organisation between the two teams was clear as day.
Chelsea player ratings (3-5-2)
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga - 5/10 - Couldn't do anything about the opening goal but once again failed to keep out a shot from the edge of the box.
CB: Wesley Fofana - 4/10 - Booked early on and looked nervous on the ball. Struggled up against Vinicius.
CB: Thiago Silva - 5/10 - Got an important clearance off the line but looked a little rusty on his return to the starting lineup.
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly - 6/10 - Also struggled but looked the most comfortable of Chelsea's back line. Excellent defending to chase down Rodrygo early in the second half, but pulled his hamstring in the process and was forced off.
RM: Reece James - 3/10 - Didn't do enough to help Fofana against Vinicius, but also didn't get involved in attack either.
CM: Mateo Kovacic - 3/10 - Found it really tough to get involved. Some really sloppy passing as he was bossed about by Modric.
CM: Enzo Fernandez - 4/10 - The work rate was undoubtedly there but Fernandez couldn't get things to tick in attack either.
CM: N'Golo Kante - 5/10 - Looked excellent for the first ten minutes as Chelsea focused on countering, but lost his impact when Real's dominance began.
LM: Ben Chilwell - 2/10 - Wasn't allowed to have his usual impact in attack and looked lost in defence even before his red card. He was covering for Cucurella, however, and was let down by his teammate.
ST: Raheem Sterling - 3/10 - Appeared to tire after the first 20 minutes but was undeniably starved of service.
ST: Joao Felix - 3/10 - Was not the focal point Chelsea needed. Should've done better on a handful of occasions early in the game and never seemed to recover.
Substitutes
Marc Cucurella (54' for Koulibaly) - 4/10 - Lost Rodrygo and left Chilwell on an island for the red card.
Kai Havertz (65' for Sterling) - 5/10 - Barely involved through little fault of his own.
Trevoh Chalobah (65' for Felix) - 5/10 - Did his part in trying to hold on.
Conor Gallagher (74' for Kante) - 5/10 - An energetic cameo.
Mason Mount (74' for Silva) - 5/10 - Escaped a booking for what could have easily been a red card just minutes after coming on.
Manager
Frank Lampard - 3/10 - Chelsea's system was right for the first ten minutes but Lampard had no answer once Real started to figure it out. His job soon became damage limitation but bringing on Cucurella ahead of Chalobah was a mistake.