Football
Chelsea Exits Champions League After Agonizing Loss to Real Madrid
by privatebet.com - 2022/04/13
Chelsea was expected to defend their Champions League title this year, but their time at this tournament was cut short. Despite trailing 3-1 from the first leg against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, they ended up losing 5-4 on aggregate as the game entered extra time. Chelsea asserted their dominance at the very start of the game, with Mason Mount's opener in the first half. Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner added two more goals for the Blues, but everything went downhill after Rodrygo’s goal for Chelsea forced extra time. Karim Benzema, whose hat-trick at Stamford Bridge helped Real Madrid defeat Chelsea six days earlier, was the hero of the match again. He managed to score a decisive goal in the 96th minute to help Real win 5-4 on aggregate. Chelsea’s time in the Champions League was cut short after this defeat, and the team’s manager Thomas Tuchel believes that luck played an important role in their elimination. "These are the kind of defeats we can digest and swallow. We left nothing to regret out there. We played what we wanted to play, with the quality and the character this team has. We deserved to go through, we were simply unlucky and it wasn't to be,” said Tuchel.