UEFA Champions League 2020-21: Real Madrid held 1-1 by Chelsea in semi-final opener

The opening leg of the UEFA Champions League 2020-21 semis-finals got underway from Tuesday. Record champion Real Madrid hosted fellow former champion, Chelsea. Meanwhile, the second game of the round would be played between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

As the opening leg of the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League got underway from Tuesday night, record champion Real Madrid was held to a competitive 1-1 draw against fellow former champion Chelsea at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano in Madrid. Christian Pulisic and Karim Benzema were the goal scorers in the game for Chelsea and Madrid, respectively.

First half
The opening half’s first attack came in the tenth minute when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois denied an effort from Timo Werner. Nevertheless, in the 14th minute, Pulisic fired in the opener with his right foot from the left, thanks to Antonio Rudiger’s assistance.

While Benzema almost levelled it in the 23rd minute, only for his effort to hit the post, he eventually did it six minutes later, thanks to Militao for the assist. With a couple of more chances gone pegging for The Blues, it was all locked at the half-time.

Second half
The second half was even intense, with only four promising chances being produced, while three of them came from the host. Nonetheless, thanks to some solid defensive show and goalkeeping skills, it all stayed locked at the end of full-time, with Chelsea having the crucial away goal lead.

Match stats
- Thiago Silva (36 years) is the oldest to start in a UCL semis since 2011 when Ryan Giggs (37 years) played for Manchester United.
- It was Benzema’s 71st UCL goal, as he is the joint-fourth top scorer in the same, along with Raúl, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski are ahead of him.
- Pulisic is the first American to score in a UCL semi, besides being the youngest of The Blues to do so, at 22 years and 221 days.
- Thomas Tuchel is the only manager to face Madrid in the UCL and not lose in the first five meetings.

Reactions
Tuchel: “He (Werner) missed a big one in West Ham, now he missed another big one here. That does not help, but it also does not help to cry about it or to regret it all the time. It is like this. We will never stop pushing, we will never stop believing and I have the feeling that everybody accepts the situation like it is, and as a striker, it is easy; you score the next game and nobody speaks about it.”

Hazard: “It’s always good to play against friends; I have a couple of friends over there. But now, I am a Real Madrid player, so I just want to win – it doesn’t matter if it’s Chelsea against us or another team. We have big players on the team and big players can always produce something. So, we have the mentality to win everything. So like I said just before, now we have another game, second leg over there. We’ll have to push to win the game.”

Zidane: “In the first half, it was very difficult for us, but we controlled it more in the second half. They’re very quick, have good players and started very well. In the second half, we had more control. We’re still in the tie and we’re happy with the overall performance. We’re also good at playing away from home; we press high. The important thing is the effort they made. The opponent is very good; you have to suffer. But, I’m happy for everyone because we’re still alive and we have to go to London to try to win the game.” 

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