3: 1 for Real Madrid, three goals from Karim Benzema: For Spain’s soccer leaders, the Champions League quarter-finals against defending champion FC Chelsea began as the round before against Paris St. Germain had ended. The “White Ballet” has all the trumps in their hands after the victory in London, on Tuesday (9 p.m.) nothing should burn in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. This is also the motto of Austria’s team captain David Alaba, who celebrated his 70th victory in his 100th match in the “premier class”. No one else has managed such a feat before.
“We were really well prepared, concentrated, focused,” said the 29-year-old from Vienna, who delivered a confident performance as the defender. “We have a lot of confidence now but we need to be ready from the start in the second leg. It’s not over yet.”
“It’s inspiring”
But if you have someone like Benzema in your ranks, you don’t need to worry. The 34-year-old Frenchman is having the season of his life. In 36 competitive games, he scored 37 times and also provided 13 assists. “It’s just sick how Karim is delivering at the moment,” Alaba marvels: “I see every week how hungry he is and how he works on himself every day. It’s inspiring.”
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti sees it similarly. “He’s just a really complete player, showing more and more leadership qualities and becoming more and more important for this club,” the Italian ennobled his captain.
It goes without saying that the highly praised exudes a good mood. “I’m very happy,” said Benzema. “It was a magical night – like last time at the Bernabeu against Paris. We really deserved this win. We were Real Madrid in the best edition. We played very well – up to the last minute.”
The Chelsea FC kickers, on the other hand, crept off the lawn of the stadium at Stamford Bridge like watered poodles. The supposed home strength seems to have vanished into thin air. Five days earlier, the “Blues” had lost 4-1 to Premier League promoted Brentford.
“That was probably the worst first half since we’ve been at Chelsea – far from any standards we set ourselves,” said coach Thomas Tuchel, whose winning streak against Real was abruptly stopped. The German had previously gone unbeaten in six encounters with the “Royals”. Now Chelsea need a small miracle to avoid being dethroned.
Source: Nachrichten
