Real Madrid easily advanced to the Champions League semifinals with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea on Tuesday, capping a convincing 4-0 victory overall and thus ending the season of the underachieving London side.
The host club entered the game at Stamford Bridge with form and history against them and Frank Lampard back in charge for a second stint.
They got off to a strong start, playing aggressive football, but regretted two massive wasted opportunities that would have put pressure on the reigning champions.
When Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 58th minute and doubled his total with 10 minutes remaining, the Spanish giants made Chelsea pay for their wastefulness.
Since Lampard replaced Graham Potter as caretaker manager earlier this month, Chelsea, the 2021 European champions, have dropped all four of their games.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti kept the same lineup that defeated Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg last week, while Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard included Reece James, Mateo Kovacic, and N’Golo Kante in his starting lineup.
Despite their current struggles, the home team made a strong start against the 14-time champions, encouraged on by an eager audience.
They had a fantastic opportunity to go ahead, but Kante missed the target with a left-footed attempt from about 12 yards out. The visitors appeared sharp during the break, content to pass the time.
Rodrygo found some room to shoot from an acute angle against the outside of the post midway through the first session, though goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga might have blocked it.
Five minutes before halftime, Vinicius Junior pulled a close-range shot wide after a cross from the Croatian midfielder, Luka Modric, testing Kepa with an angled shot.
But when Reece James fizzed a ball across the box from the right and it fell to Marc Cucurella at the back post, Chelsea should have gone ahead.
The defender took a shot after touching the ball, but Thibaut Courtois dived out of his goal to make the save.
Early in the second half, Kante had another excellent opportunity to grab the lead, but his close-range shot hit Eder Militao and deflected away to safety.
When Rodrygo scored from close range off a Vinicius assist with just over 30 minutes remaining, Real took the wind out of Chelsea’s sails.
In a last-ditch effort to get back into the game, Lampard made a flurry of attacking substitutions, putting on Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix, and Mykhailo Mudryk.
However, Rodrygo scored again in the 80th minute, knocking in a deft pass from Federico Valverde.
Real Madrid and Manchester City are expected to meet in the semifinals. Pep Guardiola’s squad led Bayern Munich 3-0 after the first leg of their last-eight match.
However, despite a spectacular expenditure of more than £500 million ($621 million) in the first year of the club’s new ownership, Chelsea is now considering the closing weeks of a catastrophic season.
They are now in 11th place in the Premier League and have already been eliminated from both domestic cups, making it doubtful that they will make it to Europe for next season’s games.