Soccer

Champions League: Real Madrid and AC Milan progress on another poor night for Chelsea

Napoli crash out as Mike Maignan saves Khvicha Kvaratskhelia penalty

Real Madrid's Brazilian striker Rodrygo Goes (R) celebrates scoring his team's second goal. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty

Tue Apr 18 2023 - 22:18

Chelsea 0 Real Madrid 2 (Madrid win 4-0 on aggregate)

Holders Real Madrid breezed past Chelsea into the semi-finals of the Champions League with Rodrygo’s double securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday for a 4-0 aggregate victory that sets up a likely mouth-watering clash with Manchester City.

Trailing 2-0 from last week’s clash in the Bernabeu, Chelsea had their moments but failed to take their chances in the opening half and at the start of the second and were made to pay as Rodrygo sent the silky Spaniards through.

He opened the scoring in the 58th minute and tapped in again in the 80th to spark a mass exodus of Chelsea fans.

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N’Golo Kanté had twice come close to cutting the deficit and Real’s former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois made a crucial save just before halftime to frustrate his old club.

And when Rodrygo finished off a sweeping counter-attack there was no way back for the London club who have lost all four games since Frank Lampard returned as interim manager.

The closing stages were almost academic and Real turned on the style with Federico Valverde teeing up Rodrygo’s second.

While Chelsea’s season will end trophy-less under their new American owners despite a £500 million outlay on new players, 14-time European champions Real march on with manager Carlo Ancelotti eyeing the trophy for a fifth time.

Napoli 1 AC Milan 1 (Milan win 2-1 on aggregate)

AC Milan reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 16 years, after surviving a barrage of pressure at Napoli on Tuesday, thanks to a first-half goal from Olivier Giroud that secured a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate success.

Napoli battled until the end but could not break down the resilient Milan defence until Victor Osimhen equalised three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header but it was too late as the referee ended the match seconds later.

Milan will face either Inter Milan or Portuguese side Benfica in the last four.

After Milan won 1-0 in the quarter-final first leg, Napoli pushed for the opening goal from the start as the visitors were forced to defend deep.

Milan were awarded a penalty after 22 minutes when Mario Rui clattered into Rafael Leao but Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret dived to stop Giroud’s low strike.

As a result of the intense pressure exerted by the hosts, Milan were able to exploit the holes in the home defence and went ahead through Giroud just before halftime.

Rafael Leao sprinted with the ball from his own half past the Napoli defence before rolling it across to Giroud who slotted home from close range.

Napoli had a glimmer of hope eight minutes from time when Fikayo Tomori handled the ball inside the box, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s penalty was saved by Mike Maignan.

Osimhen was shackled all night until his added-time header but it came too late for Napoli and their disappointed fans.

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