By Goal.com News on Tuesday, 27 April 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Real Madrid vs Chelsea

63' Casemiro and Benzema attempt to combine on the edge of the box, but Vinicius cannot keep the move alive, allowing the Blues to quell the danger.

61' Marcelo tries to release Vinicius down the left flank, but the forward moves a fraction too soon and is caught offside. Vinicius has had a quiet evening.

58' Azpilicueta angles a ball over the top down the left flank, but Carvajal eases him away from the ball. The referee is not interested in the full-back's appeal for a foul.

55' Modric tries to thread the needle to release Vinicius in the box, but Christensen makes an important intervention to clear the danger.

52' The game is still open for both teams. Madrid have not been at their best this evening, but Benzema has been a constant threat. Chelsea look dangerous on the break through Werner's speed over the top. It's set up for an interesting half.

50' OVER! Benzema collects on the edge of the Chelsea box and angles a strike on his right foot towards goal. However, he gets under the ball and loops his attempt well over the bar. Not the Frenchman's best effort.

48' BLOCK! Militao is on the spot for Madrid to block a goalbound effort from Werner. Marcelo loses possession on the edge of his own box and Kante threads a pass through to Werner, but his right-footed effort is diverted behind for a corner by the Brazilian.

46' Mount surges down the left flank and has space to deliver a cross, but he angles the ball straight into the hands of Courtois.

46' We're back underway at the Alfredo Di Stefano.

Thomas Tuchel will be the happier of the two managers after Pulisic's away goal, but the Blues were pegged back by Benzema, who struck the post before levelling. Chelsea are in a decent position, but cannot be too content until the final whistle blows.

It's all square at the break in the first leg Champions League semi-final clash between Real Madrid and Chelsea. The Blues enjoyed a fast start to the game went ahead through Christian Pulisic. However, Los Blancos battled back and equalised through a close-range effort from Karim Benzema. Both teams face an important 45 minutes in their bid to reach the final of the competition.

45' + 1' HALF-TIME: REAL MADRID 1-1 CHELSEA

45' There will be one minute of added time.

43' Chelsea will be satisfied with their efforts in the first half, but Tuchel will be a tad disappointed to have conceded a cheap goal from a set-piece given his side's recent strong performances at the back.

41' WIDE! Werner has space to run down the right flank and he bursts into the box before firing at goal. However, the German cannot place his effort on target.

39' Benzema has scored six goals in the Champions League this season - his most in a single campaign since 2014-15 (also 6).

37' Thiago Silva is afforded room to break foward and he takes on a strike from distance that takes a deflection off Kroos and travels wide.

35' Azpilicueta makes good progress down the right flank and whips a cross into the box. Werner rises at the back post, but he fails to connect with a header.

32' WIDE! Kroos is afforded room in the final third, but he places his right-footed strike wide of the right post.

30' Benzema has scored his 71st goal in the UEFA Champions League, making him the joint-fourth top scorer in the competition’s history (along with Raúl). Only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski have now scored more than the Frenchman.

25' WIDE! Pulisic charges at the Madrid defence and offloads towards Chilwell, but he places a left-footed strike just wide of the target.

23' OFF THE POST! Benzema almost levels the scores for the home side. He runs at the Chelsea defence before launching a left-footed strike at goal that strikes off the post and bounces wide.

21' Mount tries to send a throughball into the path of Werner, but the forward is caught offside.

18' Madrid have been rocked by a brilliant start to the contest from the Blues. Zidane and his men have their work cut out to get back into this one.

16' Pulisic is the first American player to score in a UEFA Champions League semi-final, and one of only five Americans overall to score in the knockout stages of the competition.

12' Chilwell makes a burst forward down the left flank and he tries to put in a low cross. Carvajal has to slide to divert it behind for a corner.

11' The Blues press forward down the right flank and Azpilicueta fizzes in a low delivery that just evades the boot of Werner on the stretch at the back post.

10' Werner continues to probe in the final third and he finds space for a low drive that Courtois gathers with ease.

10' SAVE! Courtois produces a fine stop with his feet to deny Werner from six yards. Chelsea break on the counter down the left flank and Mount supplies a cross to the right-inside channel. Pulisic directs a header across the face of goal for Werner to attack, but his strike on the half-volley is saved by the Madrid keeper. The Chelsea forward should have hit the back of the net.

9' Marcelo works an offload into the left-inside channel for Benzema to chase. He tries to work a cross into the middle, but Thiago Silva takes the pace off the delivery and allows Mendy to gather.

7' Madrid have been on the back foot in the early stages and have not been able to establish control of the contest.

5' Werner leads a surge forward for the Blues, but his offload fails to find Pulisic in stride and the American can only poke a pass to Azpilicueta. The Spaniard lifts a cross into the box that finds Chilwell, but the attack peters out.

2' Pulisic tries to latch on to a ball over the top from Chilwell, but the ball just evades the American in the Madrid box.

1' We're underway at the Alfredo Di Stefano.

Real Madrid have faced Chelsea more often than any other side in all competitions without winning in their entire history, failing in all three matches (D1 L2).

Tuchel has named an unchanged team from his side that beat West Ham last time out. The Blues operate with a front three of Werner, who scored against the Hammers, alongside Mount and Pulisic. Rudiger, Thiago Silva and Christensen remain in a back three with Kante and Jorginho sitting in front of the line. 

Madrid have made three changes to their side that drew against Betis last time out. Marcelo, Kroos and Vinicius all come into the side this evening as Isco, Rodrygo and Asensio drop to the bench. Zidane alters the shape of his side to operate with a back three, allowing Benzema to lead the line with Vinicius in support. Former Chelsea man Hazard is among the substitutes.

CHELSEA SUBS: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcos Alonso, Tammy Abraham, Willy Caballero, Kurt Zouma, Olivier Giroud, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech, Billy Gilmour, Reece James, Kai Havertz, Emerson.

CHELSEA (3-4-3): Edouard Mendy; Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Cesar Azpilicueta, N'Golo Kante, Jorginho, Ben Chilwell; Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner.

REAL MADRID SUBS: Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio, Andriy Lunin, Alvaro Odriozola, Isco, Mariano Diaz, Rodrygo Silva, Diego Altube, Sergio Arribas, Antonio Blanco, Miguel Gutierrez.

REAL MADRID (3-5-2): Thibaut Courtois; Eder Militao, Raphael Varane, Nacho Fernandez; Daniel Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric, Marcelo; Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior.

Chelsea were solid in their quarter-final win over Porto after doing the heavy lifting in the away leg. The Blues defeated the Portuguese outfit 2-0 on the road before slipping to a late defeat at Stamford Bridge in the return fixture. However, it was enough to book a last-four berth. Thomas Tuchel's men put forward a fine performance last time out to beat West Ham United on the road in the Premier League. They will need to be even better this evening to take a positive result back home next week.

Real Madrid saw off the threat of Liverpool in the last round of the Champions League and now must overcome another English outfit to reach the final for a 17th time. Zinedine Zidane's men were not at their best at the weekend, playing out a goalless draw against Real Betis at home that left them two points off the pace of Atletico Madrid at the top of LaLiga. Los Blancos need to rediscover their best to capitalise on home advantage against the Blues tonight.

Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the first leg Champions League semi-final clash between Real Madrid and Chelsea at the Alfredo Di Stefano.

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