Real Madrid's European oligarchy kick Chelsea out of the Champions League
Real Madrid plays against UEFA in every Champions League match. Ceferin and his entourage saw Los Blancos out of the Champions League against PSG and after Chelsea's 0-3 defeat at the Bernabeu. But no. The oligarchy of European football is dominated by Real Madrid, who were winning the Champions League before all those who try to dismiss Ancelotti's team were born. On yet another night, the UEFA website opened its front page with the other match of the knockout rounds, in this case, Villarreal's passage to the semi-finals. The white feat or, better still, the great match of the European night for football lovers was relegated to a score unworthy of the governing body of football in the Old Continent.
Real Madrid played their usual game. It seemed that they had the game under control, but in 20 minutes they disappeared, submerged in small mistakes and players who do not measure up when they are asked to do their best. Nacho delivers. He always will. He'll even have some very good games, but now he doesn't do half the job of Militao. Something similar happens with Carvajal. His good physical condition is called into question when he has to play with precision or make key decisions. Mendy was not expected to make any mistakes and the crowd gave him a whistle when he was substituted.
Nothing could be expected from Ancelotti. He is not a match coach. Everything he does, he prepares during the week. On the big day he suffers on the sidelines and makes decisions. He struggles to make changes and doesn't even think about putting on the pitch those who would have been world beaters like Bale or Hazard if they were healthy for the rest of the season.
Real Madrid is Modric. So are Vinicius and Benzema. The Brazilian and the Frenchman perform above one hundred percent when they are together and well below if they don't connect. The case of Benzema is the miracle that many madridistas have been waiting for years. A 9 that scores goals. The rest was too much for them and that's why they enjoy twice as much watching him head in Vini's pass to score the 2-3 and make the Chelsea fans who were thundering at the Bernabeu despair. The works of the white temple are living nights for posterity, even if the visiting fans make more noise than the stands subsidised by the club to encourage.
Modric's galaxy loses a star like Kroos who had to make way for Camavinga to hold on and prevent Chelsea's bloodletting. From the outside of his right boot came a stratospheric pass to Rodrygo who scored the 1-3 and brought the stadium back to life. It's clear after tonight that Real Madrid fans don't go to the stadium to cheer, they go to be cheered and if the players do well they'll cheer as if their lives depended on it. But the players first. And at 0-3 down they could only be expected to celebrate Chelsea's disallowed goal as if it was their own.
Tuchel cried at the end. As did Klopp. They are of that breed of modern coaches who resent everything when they don't win. Guardiola is annoyed by the pitch, Xavi is annoyed by the opponent himself, Klopp by Simeone's siege and Tuchel by Ancelotti waving at the referee. Loser stuff.
Chelsea are even more orphaned. Little to do in the Premier, without Abramovich in the box and with a desert until 31 May when the UK will decide whether to exterminate the club or leave it alive. For the time being, the European champions will have to hand their crown to another club. None of those who can get into the semi-finals belong to that lineage of European winners, to that oligarchy that has earned its fortune night after night, and which is headed by Real Madrid to the greater glory of UEFA.
In any case, Real Madrid await a semi-final opponent no matter what UEFA says. And Ceferin is already gulping at the thought of handing a 14th European Cup to his great enemy in Paris.
