Toothless Chelsea crumble as Real Madrid's Rodrygo shines at Stamford Bridge

Try as they might, Chelsea were unable to avoid another disappointing defeat against Real Madrid in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, succumbing to a 2-0 defeat on the night and a 4-0 loss on aggregate to exit the competition at the same stage and to the same opposition as they did last season. 

The Blues will rue a number of missed chances in the first half, especially as they failed to capitalise on Real Madrid’s laissez-faire attitude at the start of the game. 

In the end, a brace from Brazilian wunderkind Rodrygo Goes was enough to sink the blues further in the tie as Los Blancos claimed a second victory at Stamford Bridge in two years. 

The hosts had the better of the opening exchanges and gave fans hope that a comeback could be on the cards despite caretaker coach Frank Lampard’s heavily criticised lineup. 

Chelsea should have taken the lead mid-way through the first-half when N’Golo Kante found space in the box to unleash a shot, but his effort dragged wide from the first clear sight of goal that Chelsea had. 

Reall Madrid had no such problems when their biggest chance of the game came, following an error by Chelsea defender Trevor Chalobah which allowed Rodrgyo run in on the Blues’ box. 

After exchanging passes with Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo was on-hand to apply the finishing touch past Kepa to end Chelsea’s hopes in the tie. 

Rodrygo made certain that there would be no chance of a Chelsea fight back, finishing off another brilliant Real Madrid move with an easy finish after Federico Valverde danced his way past Conor Gallagher and Thiago Silva to play him in. 

The 4-0 loss aggregate loss ends Chelsea’s last hope for a trophy this season and almost certainly ensures that there will be no European football at Stamford Bridge next season. 

Real Madrid meanwhile look odds on to defend their UEFA Champions League title after another dominant display against an English side. 

Since beating Paris Saint-Germain, they have advanced against only English teams in this competition, and have now beaten Chelsea in back-to-back editions at the same stage. 

They have also won their last six UCL knockout games, all of them against teams from the Premier League.