Eden Hazard Real Madrid would go ‘looking for the win’ in the second leg against Chelsea following the 1-1 draw on Tuesday night.
Christian Pulisic’s fine strike put Chelsea ahead before Karim Benzema levelled for the home side in the Champions League semi-final first leg.
Hazard, who has just returned from his latest injury setback, came off the bench just after the hour-mark against his former club.
The result means Real must score in the return leg to stand any chance of reaching a final against either Manchester City or PSG.
Afterwards Hazard said: “It could be better and it could be worse! We will go there looking for the win.
“I am just going step by step, of course I want to play, I want to be on the pitch. I played a bit more today than before, we have games before the end of the season and I want to be ready. I am just happy to be playing again.
“It’s always good to play against friends. Now I am a Real Madrid player so I just want to win.”
Real struggled with a three-man defence in the first-half, and were fortunate not to have conceded more than one goal before Benzema levelled
Hazard added: “The manager decides what formation we play, we know how to play with three at the back but we can also play with four.”
Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta is disappointed that Chelsea did not make their early dominance count having started so impressively in the Spanish capital.
“I think we started really well for the first 20-25 minutes, we got the goal and I think we could have scored more,” he said.
“They got back from a set play. We then controlled some parts and suffered in others. It is just the first half, we knew against Real Madrid it would be tough.
“We started with courage, we had to perform at our best level. The semi-final of a Champions League asks you to play your best. We missed that little last pass where we could choose the best option.
“I think in the overall analysis we performed well. Benzema scored a great goal, he is a very good striker. He dropped, he got the ball and got that goal. We have to be aware for the next game.
“We are a whole group where we work hard. We have the chance to win two trophies, so everyone is committed. As a unit I think we are all improving and all growing.”
Real Madrid and Chelsea their first leg encounter one goal apiece following a wet and wild night in Spain.
Christian Pulisic had the Premier League side ahead early in a first half that they dominated, only for Karim Benzema to hit back on the half hour mark against the run of play.
There were few chances in the second half, and so the tie is nicely poised for the return game in London next Wednesday.
The Mail rate the contributions of individual player in the epic encounter
REAL MADRID
Thibaut Courtois – Brilliant early stop to deny Werner’s point-blank effort only to be beaten by Pulisic moments later. 7
Eder Militao – Looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights as Chelsea came out with all guns blazing – but played a role in his side’s leveller. 6.5
Raphael Varane – One of the world’s best central defenders but he looked anything but as Chelsea ran Madrid’s rearguard ragged. 6
Nacho – Took a while to adapt to the change of system and looked startled by Chelsea’s pace but eventually settled into the game. 6
Dani Carvajal – Overworked defensively down Real’s right hand side as Chelsea smelt blood early on. 6
Luka Modric – Chelsea didn’t give the brilliant Croatian a second to breath in the engine room. Just as well. 6.5
Casemiro – Immense at Anfield in the quarter-final but took a little while to settle down here as Chelsea asserted themselves. 6
Toni Kroos – Unsurprisingly saw more of the ball than any Real player, but Chelsea didn’t give him time to have his usual impact. Booked. 6.5
Marcelo – Went missing defensively at the start but eventually regained his composure. Not at his excellent best. 5.5
Karim Benzema – Brilliantly equalised for his side against the run of play. A constant threat for the Spaniards. 7
Vinicius Junior – Tried his best to stretch Chelsea, but the Blues defence kept him under control for the most part. Booked. 6
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel tonight became the first manager in Champions League history to avoid defeat in his first five games against Real Madrid.
But the German came away frustrated with his side’s performance only earning a 1-1 draw.
He told BT Sport: “We started the game very very well, with a lot of courage and quality. We deserved to win the first half, we had chances.
“Unfortunately they scored from a set-piece and they had nothing else, we didn’t allow any chances.
“It was a disappointing score at half time. We had to stay calm and not lose confidence.
“The second half was very tactical, you could feel that we are a bit tired. We only had a few days to recover from another tough away game. We have to live with 1-1.
“The goal was well deserved and we should have scored at least one more.
“We conceded more or less out of nothing and that can always happen against individual quality.”
The boss with his verdict on #RMACHE this evening as it ended all square in the #UCL.
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has expressed his satisfaction at the outcome of the clash against Chelseea in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at Valdebebas.
Chelsea took the lead in the 14th minute. Antonio Rudiger played a high ball over the top to catch out the Madrid defence and give Christian Pulisic space.
The Chelsea man became the first American to score in the semi-final of the Champions League, turning Thibaut Courtois before finishing neatly.
The Londoners’ lead didn’t last long. Madrid got back on level terms in the 29th minute. Toni Kroos played a short corner to Luka Modric, who fed Marcelo.
The Brazilian dropped the ball to the back post, where Casemiro sent it back across goal. A scramble ensued, but Karim Benzema seized an opening and directed a stunning overhead kick past Edouard Mendy and into the back of the net to earn Madrid an important draw.
“We were much better in the second half, we had much more order,” Zinedine Zidane said post-match in comments carried by Diario AS.
“They started strong and are very fast. The result is fair. We had trouble with their pressing, but I think we made up for it in the second half . We wanted to push up, one by one, but when that doesn’t go well it’s difficult. After the goal, we improved. We controlled the game more.
“We’re alive, and we’re going for the second game. We’re happy with what we’ve done, in general. We know we’re good at playing on the rivals’ turf, but they’re competitive. They’ve played 16 games without conceding a goal, that’s clear. They’re in the semi-final for a reason. It’s been a very tightly-contested match.”
Manchester City fans have taken to social media to beg the club to re-sign Kelechi Iheanacho after the Leicester striker scored his 14th goal in 14 matches… but his £50million buy-back option expired last summer.
Iheanacho was a bit-part player at City until his move to the Foxes in 2017, stuck behind Sergio Aguero in the pecking order and regularly coming on as a substitute late in the game.
When he headed for Leicester, City included a £50m buy-back clause, and following his recent incredible form fans of Pep Guardiola’s men have urged the club to make use of it, with Aguero set to leave at the end of the season.
But, according to the mail, it is bad news for City fans, after Iheanacho’s buy-back option expired last summer – just before his superb form of this season began.
The Nigeria international scored a stunner against Crystal Palace on Monday night to help Leicester move one step closer to next season’s Champions League, securing his side a 2-1 victory late on.
Iheanacho now has 14 goals in his last 14 matches, and is on a run of five in his last four.
Taking to social media after the 24-year-old’s latest impressive display, one fan wrote: ‘I really hope we activate that buy back clause on Iheanacho,’ while another tweeted similar to the club.
Another City fan tweeted a picture of City legend Vincent Kompany and boss Guardiola celebrating, alongside the caption: ‘When City realises they have a buy back clause in Kelechi Iheanacho’s deal.’
Instead, though, it looks unlikely that Leicester will part ways with Iheanacho unless a very big transfer fee is offered in the summer.
As Chelsea take on Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final first-leg today, one player who is sure of featuring for the west London club is Cesar Azpilicueta.
Thomas Tuchel says that he always wants his captain to be on the pitch, and he proved that by putting him at right wing back at the weekend just to keep him there.
‘He is everything Chelsea means’, is how Tuchel described him on the Chelsea website this week, which really is top plaudits from the coach.
“He’s fantastic and I want him absolutely to be on the pitch because he’s a fantastic captain and a fantastic sportsman,’ he continued.
“He is everything Chelsea means in my point of view – he’s humble, he’s a fighter, he thinks constantly about winning and he does everything to be in shape every three days. He’s a true professional and there is no work too hard or distance too long for him.
“We used him as a wing-back and it was a bit hard because he had to do several long runs. It was a bit different for him but we chose the back three with Andreas, Toni and Thiago because we knew about West Ham’s strength in set-pieces and we wanted to gain some centimetres in height.
“Azpi is totally open to anything once he sees the reason why. He was very excited to be involved a bit more offensively and it’s nice to have this. The two positions [wing-back and full-back] suit him very well and he’s absolutely reliable.”
There are suggestions in Spain that referee Danny Makkelie, who is billed to handle Real Madrid-Chelsea encounter today, may be biased because of Los Blancos president’s roles in the botched plot to establish European Super League.
Madrid-based paper Marca hinted at UEFA bias on their controversial front page, suggesting that Real fear reprisals after their failed Super League bid.
It was predictable that after Perez led the failed European Super League launch, the narrative was going to be that the club would now be the victims of UEFA reprisals.
Marca’s front page ‘Fair Play Ceferin’ put match referee Danny Makkelie at the centre of the spotlight and it was his picture above the Fair Play headline on the front page.
Spain’s football show El Chringuito ran a far more vigorous campaign, however. “How are we not going to think bad of Ceferin? How are we not going to doubt after the threats of Ceferin?” its midday show asked on Monday.
“And tomorrow [Tuesday] Real Madrid v Chelsea – have you mentally prepared? Have you taken it onboard?
“Let the Real Madrid players prepare themselves. They should make sure they are careful. They will have to play the perfect game. But perhaps that will not be enough.”
The most serious claim, according to the Mail, was repeated in the programme’s late-night slot, with the accusation that at least one Real Madrid player ‘feared’ the refereeing the team might encounter in tonight’s game.
When El Chiringuito tweeted the same editorial line, many responded ridiculing the tone and the content. “In the Spanish League everything has been gifted to Madrid for decades’ said one response.
Another read: “Hahaha this is the club that has benefited from from referees in the history of football.”
Thomas Tuchel has urged fans to forget the Super League saga and cheer Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
He said: “We all make mistakes and if you lead a club and own a club you can make decisions that not everybody understands and not everybody likes.
“This is part of life but it does not change the love for the game.
“So put your anger to this decision and the way it was presented to one side.
“Don’t put it on the team and never doubt the love that all the people at the training-ground level have for this game.
“I can just tell everybody that I love this game so much, like everybody in the dressing room — the boys are so happy out on the pitch, so excited about this semi-final.
“We need all support to enable us to overcome this huge step in these two games.”
