London: Holders Real Madrid breezed past Chelsea into the semifinals 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 half-time 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.
Chelsea's fans cranked up the volume more in hope than expectation from the kick-off and the hosts almost got the perfect start when Reece James, Chelsea's most dangerous player, crossed low and the ball broke kindly for Kante who held his head in his hands after bouncing a volley wide.
Real looked capable of killing the tie whenever they moved forward and Rodrygo, who scored a vital goal against Chelsea at the same stage last year, smashed a shot against the post.
Home keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga then beat away a Vinicius Junior effort before Real's master craftsman Luka Modric forced another save from Arrizabalaga.
A Chelsea goal before half-time would have energised the mood and it almost arrived in stoppage time when James fizzed a ball across the area and Marc Cucurella looked poised to score only for Courtois to smother his effort brilliantly.
"The big Courtois save was very important. We didn't want them to go ahead," Ancelotti told reporters. "That could have been worrying. As the second half developed, we were stronger, we created space to open up quality transitions.
"By the end, we had produced a very complete performance. We hit a good level."
AC Milan reached the semifinals for the first time since they won the trophy 16 years ago thanks to a first-half goal from Olivier Giroud at Napoli that secured a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate win despite a barrage of pressure on Tuesday.
Napoli battled until the end but could not break down the resilient Milan defence until striker Victor Osimhen equalised three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header but it was too late as the referee ended the match seconds later.
Seven-time European champions Milan will now face either Inter Milan or Benfica. Milan coach Stefano Pioli said he would welcome a semifinal against their city rivals.
"It would look like that, as Inter won the first leg so well. These will be another two difficult, exciting and wonderful clashes in the Champions League. We’ve done a great deal and don’t want to stop now," he told Mediaset.
This was the third meeting between Milan and Napoli in 16 days, with Pioli's visiting side having claimed a 4-0 victory against the runaway Serie A leaders on April 2.
