Karim Benzema hat-trick for Real Madrid puts Chelsea on brink of exit

Sometimes the old ones are the best. By the end, the notion that Chelsea would blow Real Madrid away felt utterly preposterous. Sometimes there is nothing else to do but sit back and marvel at the majesty of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, whose clinical hat-trick leaves Chelsea’s defence of their European title hanging by a thread.

This was a regal display from Madrid’s thirtysomethings. Carlo Ancelotti, a veteran of these clashes, outwitted Thomas Tuchel. Modric and Kroos were magnificent in midfield. Chelsea did not know where to look and they could be in for a humiliation if they continue to give a striker of Benzema’s gifts this many chances when this quarter-final resumes at the Bernabéu next week. Yet there had been a sense that Madrid would not be able to live with Chelsea’s power.

The Spaniards had struggled physically when these sides met in the last four last season and it was clear Tuchel wanted to play on that history. The emphasis on speed from Chelsea was obvious from Tuchel’s decision to pick his most mobile front three, Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic buzzing urgently around Kai Havertz, and at first it was hard not to fear for Madrid’s chances in midfield, where the energy of N’Golo Kanté was expected to push Casemiro, Kroos and Modric to the limit.

Indeed the signs for Chelsea were encouraging when Mount rattled into Kroos after eight minutes. At that stage, with the German lying on the turf and perhaps wondering if he had the legs for this, Madrid appeared to be in trouble. Chelsea were pressing ferociously and it seemed that something had to give when Havertz pushed Eder Militão off the ball, forcing the Madrid centre-back to drag the German down and concede a free-kick that allowed