Chelsea advanced to the Champions League final with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday, completing a 3-1 aggregate victory in the semi-final of Champions League.
After a well-deserved victory at Stamford Bridge thanks to Timo Werner and Mason Mount, Thomas Tuchel’s side will travel to Istanbul to face Premier League rivals Manchester City.
The Blues took the lead thanks to the Germany international’s first open-play goal in the competition since September 2019, before Mount scored from close range in the closing stages after the hosts had missed a slew of second-half chances as they easily countered Spanish giants Real Madrid.
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Even with captain Sergio Ramos and former Chelsea player Eden Hazard back in the lineup, Zinedine Zidane’s side looked out of control in a 3-4-3 formation, as their winless run against the Premier League club extended to five games.
Werner had the ball in the net after 18 minutes after a quiet start, but he had strayed offside before meeting Ben Chilwell’s low cross.
In the first 25 minutes, Madrid had 73% possession, and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy made a fantastic one-handed save to keep out a shot from Karim Benzema on the turn.
Nonetheless, they fell behind after just two minutes. N’Golo Kante’s superb pace helped him to set up Kai Havertz, and despite the fact that Havertz’s chip hit the crossbar, Werner was there to nod in the rebound.
Benzema was stopped once again by Mendy, this time from a close-range header, but despite their possession of the ball, Madrid failed to create chances.
Just after the restart, Havertz hit the woodwork again with a strong header, but Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois felt relieved when the ball bounced over and behind him.
Mount squandered a golden opportunity by driving at Courtois but missing the target, and Havertz was denied by the goalkeeper’s leg after a simple ball over the top.
Kante also wasted a decent chance before Mount finally put the game to end, steering into the net from Christian Pulisic’s cutback after Madrid had lost possession in their own half.
Prior to this match, Madrid had never defeated Chelsea in four previous European encounters, and had lost four straight away games against English teams in the tournament.
Key Facts:
- Chelsea has advanced to their third Champions League final, having previously reached the finals in 2008 and 2012. Only Manchester United and Liverpool (both with four) have achieved more in England.
- Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is the first manager to reach the European Cup/Champions League final in consecutive seasons with different teams, having previously led Paris Saint-Germain to the 2019-20 Champions League final.
- Real Madrid has faced Chelsea more times in all competitions without winning (P5 D2 L3) than any other team, while Tuchel has faced Madrid more times without losing than any other manager in Champions League history (P6 W2 D4).
- For the third time, the Champions League final will be played between two English teams, as it was in 2008 (Chelsea vs Manchester United) and 2019. (Liverpool versus Tottenham).
- For the eighth time in the tournament’s history, two teams from the same country compete in the final, with Spanish teams doing so three times – in 2000 (Real Madrid versus Valencia) and 2014 and 2016. (Real Madrid versus Atletico Madrid).
