Chelsea have been knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage following a 4-0 aggregate defeat against Real Madrid. Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio in the first-leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, along with a Rodrygo brace in the second-leg, proved to be enough to see the current holders progress into the semi-finals.
Frank Lampard named a questionable starting XI for the return leg with Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic all missing as Chelsea made four changes from the first-leg. Ben Chilwell was suspended for the second-leg at Stamford Bridge after he received a red card during the 2-0 loss in Madrid.
Kalidou Koulibaly was also absent from the side for the return leg after suffering an injury at the Santiago Bernabeu. Lampard's side put in a strong first-half performance against Los Blancos with N'Golo Kante and Marc Cucurella missing golden chances to level the score in the tie, but they didn't take their chances and it proved to be costly as Carlo Ancelotti's side cruised to victory in the second-half.
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The west Londoners will now only have the Premier League to focus on until the end of the season as they look to improve upon their current position in the table. Chelsea's inability to convert good chances was their downfall once again with Madrid now progressing into the last-four of the competition.
The Champions League holders will now face either Manchester City or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. Pep Guardiola's side hold a 3-0 first-leg advantage heading into the second-leg against Bayern in Germany.
As for the Blues, they have just seven games left to play in the Premier League with European football looking unlikely for next season. Lampard was unable to follow in Thomas Tuchel's footsteps from 2021 and bring a third Champions League trophy to Stamford Bridge.
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