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Real Madrid secured a 2-0 win over Chelsea in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal at the home arena of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid on Wednesday.
A first-half goal by Karim Benzema placed Real Madrid at advantage but Chelsea bounced back with Benjamin Chilwell being shown a red card in second half. However, Marco Asensio doubled the lead of the home side just some minutes later. Chelsea looked completely out of confidence in forward areas, having failed to score in their last three games. This clash never sparked into the same levels of excitement with Chelsea clearly lacking confidence in forward areas having failed to score in their previous three games. Joao Felix could have scored just two minutes into the match for the visitors but failed. Vinicius Junior made a key contribution to the opening goal, sneaking behind Wesley Fofana and tested Kepa with a low finish. But the Chelsea goalkeeper could only parry the chance away to Benzema, who has 13 goals in his last nine Champions League knockout stage matches. The scoreline read 1-0 in 21st minute. Madrid registered eight shots on target in the first half and Lampard's side denied Federico Valverde a goal just before the break, thanks to some sharp reflexes from Kepa. The visitors suffered a major setback in the second half after Chilwell was shown a red card for bringing Rodrygo with a tug of his shirt. Asensio was on the field for barely three minutes and he was assisted by Vinicius on the edge of the box and the Spanish international's low shot went through the legs of Chelsea defender Fofana and the keeper Kapa, who dived in vain. The scoreline read 2-0 in the 74th minute. Chelsea was denied a late goal by Mason Mount through a block by Antonio Rudiger. They have to score atleast two to keep their season alive in the next leg on next Tuesday at home. The winners will play Manchester City or Bayern Munich in the semifinal. Following the match, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said as quoted by Sky Sports, "We are realistic, we are 2-0 down against Real Madrid but that is done now. I have been involved with games that change. We are in a different place now where we want to prove some things wrong, to change the tone, to change the story. We went with 10 men against Real Madrid and it was a disappointing night for the lads but I also saw they gave everything. It will be different next week, we were not favourites yesterday, we are not favourites today. That is football. The possibilities are ours if we take them." (ANI)
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