Heading into the second leg match at Stamford Bridge, there was reason for Real Madrid fans to be optimistic about their team’s chances of advancing to the Champions League Final. Although Chelsea outplayed Real in the first leg, Los Blancos managed to draw 1-1 despite being far less than 100 percent. With the likes of Fede Valverde, Ferland Mendy, and Sergio Ramos returning, there was hope for a considerably better second leg.
It didn’t take long for that hope to dissipate. Real Madrid were dreadful, showing no attacking impetus throughout the 90 minutes, other than two great efforts from Karim Benzema. And they could have lost by more than 2-0, if it weren’t for Thibaut Courtois and Valverde’s heroics.
Here are five takeaways from a Champions League tie that Los Merengues well and truly deserved to lose.
No urgency, no structure
You know how Pep Guardiola used to overthink things at around this stage of the competition and get his Manchester City or Bayern Munich sides eliminated? Well, that’s exactly what happened in this game with Zinedine Zidane, who went with a back three instead of the standard 4-3-3 and, worse yet, came up with a haphazard gameplan against Thomas Tuchel.
Whereas Chelsea were organized defensively and never troubled by Real, Los Blancos’ defense was all over the place. Eder Militao was playing three positions at once, the midfield was nowhere to be found against counters, and Ferland Mendy was playing higher up the pitch than Eden Hazard at times.
Nothing Real Madrid did made any sense. Compound that with a lethargic attack that meandered in possession, and you had the ingredients of an attacking disasterclass. It’s no wonder why Real did not score any goals.
Eden Hazard flopped
Look, I don’t want to hear any ridiculous hot takes about Eden Hazard, nor do I want to engage in some dialogue about his transfer fee or overall status at Real Madrid. The guy only made one start since returning from injury and has never played a full 90 this season. Our hopes of him having a big game against Chelsea were all wistfully based on some revenge narrative that Hazard himself probably doesn’t care about.
But we can’t mince words here. We have to be 100 percent honest in our analysis and evaluations at all times. Hazard was dreadful. He may have been the worst player on the pitch, even, though Vinicius Junior at right wing back probably tips the balance.
Aside from one nice turn early in the game that drew a tactical foul from Jorginho, I can scarcely recall a positive from his performance.
What annoys me the most is what he did off the ball. Go run the tape back. You’ll see Hazard barely moving around and trying to command the ball. That matters because he is supposed to be the man on the ball, taking it to defenders in one-on-ones, and trying to make things happen by combining with teammates. He looked like he didn’t want the ball at all. It was an anonymous, shameful performance from someone who should be so much better.
Vinicius Junior was set up to fail
So now that we’ve criticized one left winger for basically doing nothing against his old team, let’s discuss the second-string left winger, who did not even play at a position anywhere near his favored position.
Vinicius Junior started as a right wing back. Now, he might actually have some potential in this position with games, because he works hard, tries in defense, and is a great ball-carrier. Experimenting with him on the right side with a three-man defense behind him is a worthwhile venture against a La Liga side that defends deep and poses little attacking threat.
It is, however, a major risk, borderline disastrous to do this in a Champions League semifinal against a team with players like Timo Werner and Mason Mount in the attack. And as you’d expect, Vini looked completely lost.
There were so many times where he was not in the picture defensively on counters. And when Real were sitting back when Chelsea had the ball, he would take such bad angles defensively, chasing Chelsea players to the point where he was literally behind them. Mount had a shot on target because of this kind of defending from Vini.
You can’t blame the young man, though. This was on Zidane for overthinking things and making such a risky experimental choice in a massive game.
Three Real Madrid players worth praising
There were very few positive performances from Real Madrid in this 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge, but I’d like to highlight three starters who did their best to keep Real afloat until Mason Mount’s game-sealing goal late in the match.
Thibaut Courtois is first. He made a big stop against Timo Werner in the first leg, and he had a couple of more important saves against Chelsea. Whereas Eden Hazard shirked under the spotlight against his former employers, Courtois heard the cries of “snake” and did his best to thwart the Blues.
The second is Karim Benzema, who was stopped twice by an excellent Edouard Mendy. Benzema created a goal from nothing in the first leg after hitting the post. And he had two more great tries in the second leg. He was, once again, the only man worth playing in the attack this week. It’s really sad how little help he has around him.
And the third is Luka Modric. The well-rested Croatian led the team with 93 pass attempts, according to WhoScored.com, and he also completed 92.5 percent of his passes. Modric had three dribbles completed to tie Vinicius for the team lead – but did not lose the ball nearly as frequently – and he also led the team as the only player with multiple key passes (two).