There are all sorts of quirky things happening at Stamford Bridge these days and there was one more on Tuesday. The King Emeritus Juan Carlos of Spain, in exile in the Arab world because of a series of financial inconsistencies, made his way to Chelsea’s stadium to attend London’s Champions League quarterfinals second leg match against Real Madrid.
Anyone who had expected that the game would also throw off a bizarreness was wrong. After winning 2-0 in the first leg, a team brilliantly structured by midfielder Toni Kroos also won the second leg 2-0, with two goals from striker Rodrygo. The defending champion is now waiting in the semifinals for the winner of Bayern Munich’s encounter with Manchester City (first leg 0:3).
When the Harry J All Stars’ ska classic “Liquidator” was pounded through the boxes – Chelsea’s traditional entrance music – there was talk of another visit in the stands at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly was in the team dressing room over the weekend and held a philippic during his visit. The season so far has been “shameful”, the American is said to have explained, he rounded up a “senior player” individually in front of the assembled team. Whose name didn’t finally make it to the public – but it was to be assumed that it was Raheem Sterling. The sat, oh wonder, on Tuesday first on the bench.
In his place, interim coach Frank Lampard called on DFB striker Kai Havertz, who had been on the bench in Madrid the previous week. Havertz exuded a great deal of elegance and he had his feet in the game indirectly when Chelsea had their best chances: through N’golo Kanté (11′) and Marc Cucurella (45’+1) who passed Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from five yards failed. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that Real Madrid seemed calm, focused and stable. The Spaniards threw a couple of knockout punches in the first half, coming just wide through Rodrygo (20′), Luka Modric (32′) and Vinícius Jr. (41′).
Antonio Rüdiger can also take part – he comes into play for Alaba
After the break, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti substituted German central defender Antonio Rüdiger for ex-Bayern professional David Alaba. And Chelsea continued to look for an action that should trigger the madness. The Londoners were close to a goal from Kanté again, but the Frenchman shot Éder Militão in the back from close range. After that, referee Orsato caused a stir: he let Militão receive a yellow card for a tactical foul after the Brazilian had already been cautioned. The Chelsea bank was furious, the audience in a rage – and a little later dismayed. Because on a counterattack, Rodrygo prevailed on the right, had half the field in front of him, passed to his compatriot Vinícius on the left and got the ball back in the six-yard box. He hit the net from a central position to make it 1-0 (58).
With that, the knockout round was humanly over. Lampard brought on a few of the expensive reservists. Sterling (€56m), Mykhaylo Mudryk (€70m) and João Félix (€11m on loan) came in for Cucurella (€70m), Enzo Fernández (€110m) and Conor Gallagher, a homegrown talent that has been awarded time and again. But the only thing that happened was Real Madrid’s second goal. The stadium emptied because the season is indeed a shame, as Boehly said. At least based on the fact that Chelsea has invested more than 600 million euros in new players this season alone – and has currently reaped eleventh place in the league and an end in the Champions League. There are things that can be had a lot cheaper.