“6 – 15 – 131” 3 “terrible” statistics after Real Madrid “swallowed” Chelsea to set foot in the Champions League semi-finals

An impressive run in Europe, Rodrygo’s goals, and Benzema’s achievement.

Real Madrid sealed safe passage to the Champions League semi-finals by beating Chelsea with a 2-0 scoreline to add to the same result in the first leg and secure a comfortable 4-0 aggregate win over the English team.

It came thanks to a brace of goals from Brazilian forward Rodrygo Goes, assisted on both occasions by fellow South Americans with Vinícius Júnior setting up the first and Fede Valverde claiming the assist for his second goal.

Here are three stats that help us to understand the game and the tie.

6: Consecutive wins in knock-out Champions League games, a new club record

For the first time in Champions League history, Real Madrid have won six consecutive knock-out matches. It seems almost hard to believe that even the great three-in-a-row side did not achieve the feat, but the previous best run came to a halt at five.

What makes that run even more special for Los Blancos is that the six victories have all come against English opponents. From Manchester City in last season’s semi-final second leg, to Liverpool in Paris, Liverpool again in this season’s last 16 and now Chelsea twice.

The record is an impressive feat from Carlo Ancelotti and reflects a desire not to rest on their laurels, even after convincing first leg victories against both Liverpool and Chelsea in their last two knock-out ties. That willingness to fight to the end is making a difference and helping to kill teams off.

Now, in their next game in the semi-final first leg, they’ll be out to match Barcelona’s competition record of seven matches in a row which was set between 2014 and 2016.

15: Rodrygo Goes has scored as many goals for Real Madrid in the Champions League as in all Spanish competitions combined

It’s no secret that Rodrygo LOVES playing in the Champions League. With his brace in London, Rodrygo scored his 14th and 15th goals in the European competition in just his 37th appearance in the Champions League. He also has another three in other international tournaments, with one European Super Cup appearance and two in the Club World Cup, where he scored one goal.

His tally in Spain comes to 15 goals in 114 games, with 12 in 100 in LaLiga, three in nine in the Copa del Rey, and five Supercopa de España appearances without scoring. It’s a bizarre phenomenon, but one which suits a player who is never afraid to turn up for the big occasion. It’s a trait which suits Real Madrid down to the ground.

Both of his goals were almost uncharacteristically like a number nine. A true poacher’s finish on both occasions, he found himself in the right place at the right time just yards in front of goal to ensure that he could rack up 0.92 expected goals, which seems surprisingly low given the nature of his chances.

However, and ironically, perhaps his best work on the ball came on 20 minutes as he hit the woodwork. Had that one gone in, Rodrygo may have recorded a second Champions League hat-trick to add to one against Galatasaray back in November 2019.

Next up could well be Manchester City. Given his record of scoring twice against them in the second leg of last season’s semi-final, he may be confident of adding another in the upcoming tie should the Citizens progress past Bayern Munich.

131: Karim Benzema became the outfield player with the most Champions League appearances for Real Madrid

It was a landmark night for Karim Benzema against one of his favourite European opponents, even if it did mean failing to score against them for only the second time in his sixth meeting with Chelsea. That’s because he was making his 131st appearance for Real Madrid in the Champions League.

On Tuesday night, he overtook Raúl (130), having pulled away from Sergio Ramos (129) in the first leg. He’s scored 78 goals throughout his 131 appearances in Europe’s elite competition, putting him behind only Cristiano Ronaldo who reached 108 goals in a white jersey.

He also became only the fifth player to have made 150 appearances in the competition at all, though it is just Benzema’s luck that one of the other four is Iker Casillas, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper who racked up 177 with 148 of those coming for Los Blancos and the other 29 coming for Porto at the twilight of his career.

In the case of Benzema, 19 appearances came for Olympique Lyonnais before joining Real Madrid, but his history since then has been intertwined with the Spanish giant. He scored 12 goals for the French side during that spell.