Chelsea beat Real Madrid and reach UCL final

AFP

Madrid: Real Madrid were not just beaten but outplayed, their defeat by Chelsea on Wednesday clear enough to spell the end of a team that has gone on and on but can no longer match the best in Europe.

After a historic run that has seen Zinedine Zidane’s grandees win three consecutive Champions League titles and four in eight years, Real Madrid can be under no illusions.

This is the third year they have failed to reach the final and the second in a row they have faced elite English opposition and been found wanting.

“Chelsea were the better team,” said midfielder Casemiro. “We have no excuses.”

Madrid were outclassed by Manchester City last season in the round of 16 and while the 3-1 aggregate score against Chelsea made the tie look competitive, they were fortunate to escape a thrashing.

The second leg could have been comparable to Barcelona’s humiliation by Bayern Munich, if only Chelsea were less wasteful with the string of golden opportunities they created.

Barca were thrown into crisis by that 8-2 loss in Lisbon last season, jolted to begin a painful transition that required unpopular decisions about some of the club’s leading players.

Madrid, in contrast, have resisted change, Zidane opting instead to extract every last ounce of experience, character and class from his trusted lieutenants, than begin to look to the future.

It has worked too, the club overcoming a year without a single signing, on the back of another in which they spent 100 million euros on Eden Hazard, money that now looks completely wasted.

Without signings and largely without Hazard, Zidane revived and cajoled the old spine of Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Karim Benzema to reset and win again.

They won La Liga last season and if they beat Sevilla on Sunday, they could be favourites to win it again, on the cusp of Zidane’s third La Liga title in four full seasons in charge.

With a depleted squad, ravaged all season by injuries and lately drained by fatigue, that would be an immense achievement.

– Real’s reduced status –

This Real Madrid era will deservedly go down as one of the greatest of all time, for whom winning mentality was not just an asset but the defining feature.

Yet increasingly the level needed to win in Spain appears significantly lower than what is required in Europe, where Paris Saint-Germain were too good for Barca and Chelsea have shown themselves superior to both Real and Atletico Madrid.

If any of La Liga’s top three had come up against either Bayern or City, it is hard to imagine a different result.

Madrid’s reduced status is not lost on the club’s president Florentino Perez, whose passion for a European Super League is driven in part by desperation to prevent the gap getting bigger.

Perez said without the millions on offer from the breakaway, Madrid cannot afford the likes of Kylian Mbappe this summer, the kind of statement signing to launch a new cycle in one-fell swoop.

But there is change that could be slower and smarter, that does not involve buying only the best players in the world at the very highest price.

Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric are both out of contract this summer, with the future of Ramos particularly uncertain.

Yet it is the role of Zidane that could now come into sharp focus, not so much around his proven capabilities with this current team, but his suitability for ushering in a new one.

Some higher up the club have been frustrated by Zidane’s reluctance to nurture younger talents.

Martin Odegaard was sidelined and allowed to leave, while Fede Valverde has succumbed to the regular midfield trio and Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo have only delivered in fits and starts.

Zidane’s contract expires in 2022 but he has repeatedly refused to address questions regarding his future.

“I do not look beyond the day to day, I don’t plan anything,” he said in February.

The French national team is often mentioned as a natural next step, particularly as he has never envisaged a long managerial career. He has kept open the possibility of a return to Juventus too.

But if he stays another year, even Zidane — whose loyalty to these players has been both a cause and product of their success — may believe change is now essential.

قنا

لندن: لحق تشيلسي بمواطنه مانشستر سيتي إلى نهائي دوري ابطال أوروبا لكرة القدم بعد فوزه على ضيفه ريال مدريد الاسباني 2 / صفر في المباراة التي جرت بين الفريقين يوم الأمس في إياب الدور نصف النهائي .

وكانت مباراة الذهاب التي جرت في مدريد الاسبوع الماضي قد انتهت بالتعادل الايجابي 1 / 1 .

افتتح الألماني تيمو فيرنر التسجيل لتشيلسي في الدقيقة 28، ثم أضاف ماسون ماونت الهدف الثاني في الدقيقة 85، ليواصل الفريق اللندني تفوقه على النادي الملكي في مواجهاتهما المباشرة، بعدما حقق انتصاره الثالث على ريال مدريد الذي لم يسجل أي انتصار على نظيره اللندني بالمسابقات القارية.. علما بان ريال مدريد، صاحب الرقم القياسي في عدد مرات الفوز بالبطولة برصيد 13 لقبا .

وضرب تشيلسي الذي توج باللقب عام 2012 موعدا في النهائي مع مواطنه مانشستر سيتي والمقرر بمدينة اسطنبول التركية في 29 مايو الحالي .

وكان مانشستر سيتي قد تخطى عقبة باريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي، بعدما تغلب عليه 4 / 1 في مجموع مباراتي الذهاب والإياب في اولى مواجهات نصف النهائي ليتأهل بذلك سيتي للمرة الاولى لنهائي المسابقة القارية .

وبات هذا هو ثالث نهائي إنجليزي خالص بدوري الأبطال، بعدما توج مانشستر يونايتد باللقب عام 2008 بفوزه على تشيلسي بركلات الترجيح في النهائي الذي جرى بالعاصمة الروسية موسكو، وكذلك عقب فوز ليفربول بالبطولة عام 2019 إثر تغلبه 2 / 1 على توتنهام هوتسبير في العاصمة الإسبانية مدريد.

يذكر ان تشيلسي قد أطاح بمانشستر سيتي من الدور نصف النهائي لبطولة كأس الاتحاد الإنجليزي، بعدما تغلب عليه 1 / صفر في آخر مواجهة جرت بينهما في 17 أبريل الماضي، فيما يستعد الفريقان لملاقاة بعضهما البعض يوم السبت المقبل في المرحلة المقبلة للدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز على ملعب (الاتحاد) معقل سيتي.

وسوف يخوض المدرب الاسباني توخيل ثاني نهائي بدوري أبطال أوروبا على التوالي بعد خسارته مع باريس سان جيرمان أمام بايرن ميونخ الألماني الموسم الماضي، علما بأن هذا هو أول نهائي لتشيلسي في البطولة منذ تتويجه الوحيد باللقب قبل تسعة أعوام.