Rodrygo double eases Real Madrid into semi-finals

LONDON : Holders Real Madrid breezed past Chelsea into the semi-finals of the Champions League with Rodrygo's double securing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to set up a likely mouth-watering clash with Manchester City.

Chelsea's hopes of maintaining interest in a woeful season always looked slender after losing last week in the Bernabeu and Rodrygo put them out of their misery with two second-half goals to confirm Real's superiority with a 4-0 aggregate win.

The hosts had 19 goal attempts but once again they lacked any cutting edge as they lost a fourth match in succession in all competitions since the club's record scorer Frank Lampard returned as interim manager.

N'Golo Kante spurned two chances to cut the deficit and Real's former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois made a crucial save just before halftime to frustrate his old club who have now managed only one goal in their last six games.

Real, bidding for a record-extending 15th European crown, bided their time and Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 58th minute, before tapping in again in the 80th to spark a mass exodus of Chelsea fans who had seen enough.

Despite spending around 600 million pounds ($745 million) on players since a Todd Boehly-led takeover, the London club have now lost four games in a row for the first time since 1993.

For Real, they may be handing the La Liga title to arch-rivals Barcelona, but remain the team to beat in Europe's elite competition and manager Carlo Ancelotti is now eyeing a third Champions League crown with them and fifth in all.

Manchester City lead Bayern Munich 3-0 heading in to their quarter-final second leg on Wednesday.

Chelsea's fans cranked up the volume more in hope than expectation from the kickoff and the hosts almost got