Chelsea saw their Champions League hopes end with a whimper on Tuesday evening as they were knocked out of the competition by Real Madrid. The reigning champions were two goals in front from the first leg and a second half brace from Rodrygo sealed Madrid's passage into the semi-finals with a 4-0 aggregate triumph.
The Blues had their chances but once again, as has been the case far too often this season, a cutting edge in attack was nowhere to be seen. N'Golo Kante and Marc Cucurella were both guilty of missing clear-cut opportunities in the first half and they were made to pay early in the second period for their profligacy.
Trevoh Chalobah, in for the injured Kalidou Koulibaly, lunged to the floor when faced by Rodrygo near the touchline. The Brazilian then advanced towards the Chelsea box before picking out Vinicius Jr who squared the ball back to Rodrygo for a simple tap-in.
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The visitors lead was doubled 10 minutes before full-time as Federico Valverde snuck through the Chelsea back line before squaring to Rodrygo, who had another easy finish to put the tie beyond doubt.
Chelsea languishing in 11th in the Premier League table meant the Champions League was there last hope of salvaging a disappointing 2022/23 campaign. The Blues being knocked out of Europe, minus an unthinkable late European push, means for the remaining weeks of the season, Frank Lampard and his players virtually have nothing to play for.
Here is how the national media reacted to Chelsea's defeat, which was the fourth consecutive one under interim boss Lampard.
The Guardian
The pulse had been faint beforehand and, as expected, it was extinguished for Chelsea well before full time, this Champions League quarter-final exit sounding the death knell for their season.
Frank Lampard’s team had a go, bringing the hustle in the first half and they almost fashioned a lifeline to counter the grave damage from the Bernabéu, N’Golo Kanté and Marc Cucurella missing clear chances.
It was a night when Chelsea were heavy on perspiration, low on inspiration, Lampard’s lineup lacking the X factor, which is quite the oddity given the £550m lavished on new players by the ownership since their installation last May.
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Daily Mail
So it turns out Todd Boehly is going to have to do some work on his dressing room pep talks.
The Chelsea owner likes to think of himself as the smartest man in the room but it appears that marching into the players’ inner sanctum a few days before the biggest game of their season and calling them embarrassing was not the motivational game-changer he thought it would be. Who knew?
Three days on from Boehly’s idea of a call to arms, Chelsea’s season is over. The players he has assembled at a cost of over £600m did not let themselves down in the second leg of their Champions League quarter final against Real Madrid as they tried to overcome a 2-0 deficit from the first leg at the Bernabeu.
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The Mirror
The task for Chelsea coming into the match was clear: score at least two goals. For that, you'd have expected Frank Lampard to go with plenty of forwards in a bid to bombard Real Madrid's goal.
Instead, though, the interim Blues boss decided to name Kai Havertz as his only recognised forward, supported by Conor Gallagher, Saturday's goalscorer in the dismal defeat at home to Brighton. It allowed N'Golo Kante to take up a more attacking role and use both Enzo Fernandez and Mateo Kovacic's qualities in build-up - but it's goals that mattered.
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Chelsea knocked out of Champions League after quarter-final defeat against Real Madrid
