Real Madrid easily dominated Chelsea at the Bernabeu this Wednesday evening (2-0), in the first leg of the Champions League.
What a game. There are no other words to qualify the performance of Vinicius and Rodrygo. The two Brazilians were quite simply the players with the highest volume of play, who chained festival after festival by dominating their respective wing. Vinicius is involved in both goals: he is the one who makes the center shot for Benzema on the opener (21st) and the one who brought out the ball to Marco Asensio on the second goal after the combination at Rémoise. He touched 19 balls in the area, the highest total for a player this season in the competition. It’s also more than Chelsea for the whole game. As for Rodrygo, he was behind the sending off of Ben Chilwell with a breakthrough in the box.
90 goals. Karim Benzema enters a little more into the legend of the Champions League and therefore of football. The Frenchman was once again cruelly realistic and efficient. This is the 8th time in their last 9 C1 knockout matches that Nueve have found the net. He was once again an attacking leader for his team by opening the scoring, after a superbly followed call on the pass from Vinicius (27th). Even in Real Madrid’s overall system, Benzema played a leading role in dropping from the centreline, drawing defenders onto him, which allowed Vinicius and Rodrygo to have a lot more space.
But why did Ben Chilwell venture to make this mistake? The turning point of the match came in the 60th minute when the Chelsea defender decided to break up a one-on-one chance from Rodrygo. Certainly, the Brazilian was going to try to double the bet in front of Kepa but in a quarter-final first leg of the Champions Leagueat the Bernabeu against Real Madrid is far too big a risk. Especially when there is still a good half hour of play left. Logically expelled, Chilwell left his team reduced to ten, when the defense was already in great difficulty. Frenchman Wesley Fofana quickly received a yellow. Reece James struggled to contain Vinicius. Kalidou Koulibaly came out injured despite some solid interventions. Only Thiago Silva seemed reliable tonight. Real Madrid’s second goal shows all the passivity of the Blues, trapped on a corner at Rémoise (74th).
If the defense fished, the attack was not at best despite some clear opportunities, especially in the first period. Unfortunately, against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in C1, the margin for error is too small. The symbol of this sick attack bears the face of João Félix who has several chances to score but who has always been too hesitant in his gesture. From the first minute of the match, he had a one-on-one but waited too long, sinking far from the cages and trying a shot that was too weak to worry Thibaut Courtois. The Portuguese was not decisive at all tonight.