Rodrygo scored twice as Real Madrid cruised into the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday, completing an emphatic 4-0 aggregate win against Chelsea that ends a disastrous season for the London club.
The home team, with Frank Lampard back in the dugout for a second spell, came into the match at Stamford Bridge with form and history against them.
They started brightly but rued a number of huge missed chances that would have heaped pressure on the defending champions.
The Spanish giants made Chelsea pay for their profligacy when Rodrygo scored in the 58th minute after a speedy counter-attack and he made it 2-0 with 10 minutes to go.
“We suffered a lot and helped us stay at 0-0 at the end of the first half,” Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti told BT Sport.
Second Half
“Second half we were much better and scored the two goals. We are happy to have qualified.”
Chelsea, the 2021 European champions, have now lost all four of their matches since Lampard returned to the club as caretaker boss earlier this month in place of the sacked Graham Potter.
Lampard, who also managed the club from 2019 until early 2021, bemoaned his team’s profligacy.
“We played really well for 60 minutes,” he said. “We created chances but you have to take them.”
The former Chelsea midfielder said his men must find motivation from playing for the club as they contemplate a bleak final few weeks of the season.
“You’re playing for Chelsea,” he said. “So regardless, every game you play you have to give everything. I won’t let anyone off the hook and we have to show. That standard cannot drop.”
Ancelotti stuck with the same team that won the first leg 2-0 last week while Chelsea caretaker boss Lampard restored Reece James, Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante to his line-up.