With Real Madrid looking beaten and on the verge of elimination after a fierce comeback by defending champion Chelsea, Karim Benzema came up big once again in the Champions League. (More Football News)
Having scored a hat-trick in the first leg to give Madrid a 3-1 lead, Benzema spoiled the English team바카라s comeback by netting the decisive goal in extra time on Tuesday to put the Spanish club back into the semifinals.
After trailing 3-0 at home, Madrid pulled two goals back to secure a 5-4 aggregate victory despite a 3-2 loss at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
바카라It was another incredible night at the BernabĂ©u,바카라 said Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, who set up the hosts first goal. 바카라We suffered but we never gave up. We kept fighting until the end and managed to advance. We gave everything we had and showed great character.바카라
Benzema also saved Madrid in the round of 16 by scoring a second-half hat-trick in a 3-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain after Madrid had lost 1-0 in Paris and conceded early at the Bernabéu.
Benzema바카라s 12th Champions League goal this season came with a header off a cross by VinĂcius JĂșnior six minutes into extra time.
The hosts had looked defeated after going down 3-0 in regulation, but substitute Rodrygo evened the aggregate score in the 80th and Madrid found a way to reach the last four for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons.
Chelsea had overpowered Madrid early and built a lead through goals by Mason Mount in the 15th, Antonio RĂŒdiger in the 51st and Timo Werner in the 75th.
바카라Not many teams can come here and dominate them, as we did,바카라 RĂŒdiger said. 바카라Over the two legs, if you make the type of mistakes that we did, you get punished.바카라
Madrid will next face either Manchester City or Atlético Madrid, which play on Wednesday in the Spanish capital with City defending a 1-0 lead from the first leg.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has reached the Champions League semifinals for the eighth time as a manager, equaling the record held by JosĂ© Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. 바카라We suffered a lot,바카라 Ancelotti said. 바카라In the end, after the 180 minutes, I think we deserved to advance.바카라
In the other quarterfinal on Tuesday, modest Spanish club Villarreal advanced past Bayern Munich 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in the second leg in Germany. The loss will add to Chelsea바카라s off-the-field turmoil amid the forced sale of the club after sanctions in Britain against oligarch owner Roman Abramovich following Russia바카라s invasion of Ukraine.
Chelsea had eliminated Madrid 3-1 on aggregate in last year바카라s semifinals en route to its second Champions League title. But Madrid couldn바카라t play at the BernabĂ©u that time because the venue was undergoing major renovation work.
Instead, the first leg was at the small Alfredo Di StĂ©fano Stadium in the club바카라s training center, a match that ended 1-1 before Chelsea won 2-0 in London.
On Tuesday, the defending champions looked the more dangerous team during most of the match but both sides had opportunities in a high-intensity encounter that went back-and-forth toward the end of regulation.
Chelsea바카라s American substitute Christian Pulisic had two good chances for a decisive goal in stoppage time but couldn바카라t capitalize on them. The visitors also had a couple of opportunities later in extra time as they pushed for a goal that would take it to penalties.
The English side got a dream start when Mount opened the scoring after quick touches by Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Werner caught the Madrid defense off guard and left the forward with an easy shot from inside the area.
The visitors got the second with a firm header by RĂŒdiger off a corner by Mount, and they thought they had another in the 62nd after Marcos Alonso scored from inside the area, but the goal was called back after video review because of a handball.
Instead, the third goal came when Werner scored from close range after a nice move to go past defenders in front of the net, but Madrid roared back five minutes later with a volley by substitute Rodrygo.
It was set up by an exquisite pass by Luka Modric with the outside of his boot after Chelsea captain N바카라Golo KantĂ© gave the ball away with a bad pass near the sideline. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had made a good save to deny an attempt by Kai Havertz a few moments earlier.
Benzema, who struck a header off the crossbar in the 66th, had been mostly contained as Madrid struggled to move the ball into attack and kept giving Chelsea opportunities. But one good chance in extra time was all he needed to make the difference once again.
