He also used the ball effectively as Chelsea were able to sustain possession in the Real Madrid half and control the contest. There was an energy to Kante's game early on, and he patrolled the midfield with purpose in the opening period. That proved to be a goal that Chelsea could not recover from. Still, Loftus-Cheek had positive moments, but he was involved – alongside N'Golo Kante – in the indecisiveness that led to Real Madrid reclaiming the lead in extra time. It was certainly an intensive role and one that appeared to take a toll on the midfielder as the game progressed. But when the Blues didn't have the ball, Loftus-Cheek would drop back into a wing-back position. He pushed up the pitch in possession, and James tucked into right-back. 8Īhead of the game, Tuchel described Loftus-Cheel's role as "hybrid", and that's exactly what it proved to be. Rudiger was unfortunate to slip in the build-up to Benzema's winner. He corrected that in the second period, though, as he nodded a Mount corner beyond Courtois to draw the Blues level in the tie.Ĭhelsea were able to claim the lead soon after, but it wasn't one they could hang onto. It wasn't exactly that, but the German was a commanding presence and came close early on with a header over the crossbar. Much like Silva, Chelsea needed a flawless performance from Rudiger.
He was caught under the ball for Rodryo's goal, but the pass from Modric was so precise that it was difficult to attach blame to Silva. There was never any panic shown by the Blues centre-back, even when he was left in one-on-one situations against Karim Benzema. Given the task that faced Chelsea before kick-off, the experience of Silva was going to be vital. This was another high-class performance from James on the biggest stage. He continued to defend expertly in the second half despite being on a booking since the early stages. And he handled himself expertly in the opening period, halting four dribbles by Real Madrid players, the most of anyone on the pitch.
Given the difficulties Andreas Christensen experienced in the first leg up against Vinicius Junior, it was no great surprise that James was drafted in to play on the right of the back three. Mendy was beaten again by Karim Benzema in extra time but again could do little to stop the Frenchman's header, which was planted into the bottom corner. However, he could do nothing about Rodrygo's goal, which came about after a quite frankly ridiculous pass from Luka Modric. That changed after the interval when Mendy was forced into a smart stop to deny Karim Benzema from a free-kick. The Senegal international would have been desperate to make up for his error in the first leg, but Mendy didn't have an opportunity in the opening period as Chelsea controlled possession and restricted Real Madrid to just three shots on goal, which were all off-target.
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