Karim Benzema’s hat-trick for Real Madrid puts Chelsea on the brink of exit | Champions League

Sometimes old is better. This was deemed too slow to handle the pace of modern football Real Madrid Turning back the clock and reminding the rest of Europe that there will always be a place in the game for clever midfielders like Luka Modric and lethal strikers like Karim Benzema.

It doesn’t matter if Modric is 36 or Benzema has scored three goals in a row in the league Champions League, is 34 years old. After all, the notion that Chelsea would pass through Madrid seemed preposterous. Veteran Carlo Ancelotti has outdone Thomas Tuchel. Toni Kroos, who turned 32 in January, helped Modric officiate the match. Benzema completely obliterated the Chelsea defense.

This was a hit. It was only 3-1, which gives Chelsea We hope to reach the last four when they visit the Bernabéu on Tuesday, but it is difficult to see the European champions turning into the quarter-finals.

Madrid are not used to pulling the strings, and unless Chelsea find a way to fix their defensive weaknesses, Benzema is bound to make them suffer again.

Tuchel urgently needs a quick fix. Chelsea, which operates under uncertainty over its own property issues, is in disarray. As Tuchel admitted, there was no sign of any improvement after last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to Brentford. Chelsea’s form faded again as their opponents grabbed the ball and Tuchel worried too many of his players seemed unfocused, with the number of fouls and malaise summed up by Edward Mendy as Benzema awarded his third goal with a miserable turn. Knas-keeper at the start of the second half.

Not that Mendy was the only Chelsea player who struggled. Vinicius Junior gave Andreas Christensen a tough time that the central defender had to retire in the first half. Unable to identify Modric and Kroos, N’Golo Kanté also failed to get out in the second half. As for Romelu Lukaku, he was given 26 minutes to swing the game in favor of Chelsea and did nothing but miss a £97.5m chance for the strikers.

Madrid, who had never defeated Chelsea, would not be generous. The Spaniards are a different proposition than the one they did so poorly when these two teams met in the semi-finals last season. Ancelotti has 12 points at the top of La Liga, and despite the focus on pace from Tuchel, who picked three from Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, the sense that Real Madrid would beat him soon proved misplaced.

Admittedly, Chelsea’s signs were encouraging when Mount rocked in the crossover early on. At that point it seemed that Madrid was in trouble. Chelsea were pressing hard and they had chances, Havertz shot over and Thibaut Courtois blocked a Reece James free kick.

However he was very rabid by Chelsea. They lacked topical discipline and Madrid quickly found space for creativity. There was a warning when Benzema and Fede Valverde released Vinicius who hit the crossbar, and Tuchel looked anxious even before the opening goal arrived.

The match was going at Real Madrid’s super pace, Modric, Kroos and Casemiro dominated the midfield, and Chelsea weren’t quick enough to absorb the smell of danger. They don’t seem to realize that the visitors wanted to exploit the loopholes behind James. The Chelsea right-back was not protecting Christensen, and this weakness proved pivotal after 21 minutes, Vinicius played a one-on-two brace with Benzema and a cross for the France striker to direct a glorious header outside Mendy.

It was a great goal, thanks to Benzema’s deep fall to tie play, and soon another goal arrived. Valverde, who preferred to the right Marco Asensio, found Modric and the Croatian allowed to pass for Benzema, who slid away from Thiago Silva and Christensen before overtaking Mendy again.

Chelsea was everywhere. Havertz reduced the difference before the end of the first half, escaping from Eder Militao and David Alaba before passing Jorginho’s cross past Courtois, but that was not convincing. Tuchel was not fooled, especially after seeing Benzema miss the babysitter in the first half. Something had to be changed and Tuchel used the interval to adjust, replacing Christensen and Kante with Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech.

Unfortunately, no one will be able to tell if those replacements are the correct ones. The second half was a minute of his age when Mendy went out of his area and sold Antonio Rudiger for a short period, allowing Benzema to steal possession and roll the ball into the empty net from 25 yards.

Chelsea has been discharged. They tried to attack but the mood worsened when Lukaku headed away from six yards. In the end there was nothing but regret. Madrid had all the balance. Chelsea simply has a mountain to climb.