Pulisic's perfect dribbling and Benzema's 71st goal: how Real Madrid and Chelsea drew in the first semi-final of the Champions League

The first-ever Champions League confrontation between Real Madrid and Chelsea had many connotations long before recent events, but the sudden creation and collapse of the European Football Super League (ESL) contributed to the emergence of another. Londoners may be the last of the Premier League representatives to declare their refusal to participate in the Super League, but they were the ones who became the culprit for the suspension of the project, the ideologue of which is Madrid President Florentino Perez. And the head of the “creamy” would certainly be glad if his players took revenge on their rivals for the demarche and won a landslide victory at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium.

Until now, "Real" still has not left the Super League, which threatened him not only with a possible suspension from European competitions for the next season, but also with serious consequences in the upcoming match. According to the Spanish media, the team allegedly seriously feared pressure from the referees, due to the intention of UEFA to settle scores with the “royal club” for trying to organize a new tournament. True, the head coach Zinedine Zidane did not confirm such rumors and expressed the opinion that the refereeing team, led by Dutchman Danny McKeley, would do their job in good faith.

Apart from the ESL theme, there were plenty of intrigues ahead of the game. Thibaut Courtois met the former club for the first time, and could be accompanied by another ex-Chelsea footballer Eden Hazard. This match was also special for Thomas Tuchel, who proudly bears the title of the most inconvenient opponent for Zidane. Until now, the teams of these mentors have competed with each other four times and the Frenchmen's charges have never been stronger (three draws and one defeat).

However, it was not worth it to put an end to the prospects of Real Madrid outright. Zidane has long earned the title of king of key matches and has proven this many times during the current season. In this regard, the tactical plan and game scheme of the Madrid team aroused extreme interest. As a result, the Frenchman again surprised by his decision to mirror the opponent's scheme and go out with three central defenders. In the absence of Sergio Ramos and Ferlan Mendy, Rafael Varane, Nacho Fernandez and Eder Militao were in the center of defense, while Marcelo and Dani Carvajal played the role of laterals.

As for Tuchel, the German specialist did not have any surprises.

Instead of the injured Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante is located in the center of midfield, and the attacking trio consisted of Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner.

At the same time, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz, who played in two quarterfinal games against Porto, remained in reserve.

In the first minutes one might get the impression that the referee is a little biased towards the hosts.

Several times Marcelo was pushed quite hard with his hands, but McKeley did not react in any way to the actions of the blue.

But over time, it became clear that it was not the referee's sympathies that were involved, but the level of permissible martial arts set by him.

The Dutchman allowed the players to fight hard for the ball and was in no hurry to whistle.

In many ways, it was this that contributed to the fact that already at the tenth minute, the guests almost opened an account. Another loss for the Spaniards led to a counterattack by Chelsea, which was well developed by Mount. The Englishman performed a serve into the penalty area on Pulisic, who threw his head on the lonely Werner, but Timo once again reminded of his problems with the implementation. The German shot not in the best way and left Courtois a chance to save the gate. The Belgian took advantage of it and performed another miracle, parrying the kick.

But after four minutes, Chelsea still achieved what they wanted. Real Madrid's forwards did not put pressure on Antonio Rudiger and paid for it. The German noticed Pulisic's jerk and threw the ball just behind the back of the opponent's defenders who were in line. Christian received a pass in the penalty area, mockingly laid Courtois on the lawn and opened the scoring, becoming the first American to score in the Champions League semi-finals.

Until the end of the half, it was striking how uncomfortable Real Madrid felt in defense. Marcelo did not regularly refine his defense, and the half-flank zones seemed to be the most vulnerable in Zidane's formations. The same Pulisic and Werner had more than one chance to increase Chelsea's advantage in the score, but they lacked either accuracy or quickness. Madrid, on the other hand, treated their moments much more carefully and took advantage of the second of them. Karim Benzema took over the role of the scorer again. First, he “robbed” Rüdiger and shot into the post, and then still distinguished himself after a corner. Casemiro and Militao won two riding duels in a row, and the Frenchman earned the ball and hammered it into the goal net. For Benzema, this goal was 71st in the Champions League, which allowed him to catch up on this indicator with another “creamy” legend - Raul.

Against the background of the super-intense debut of the first half, the beginning of the second half turned out to be much less eventful.

Zidane made substantial adjustments to the players' game, after which Real began to control the ball much more, and the number of mistakes in defense was reduced to a minimum.

Only the pouring rain remained unchanged, which clearly prevented the players from showing all their skills.

Apparently, the complete lack of sharpness at the opponent's goal did not suit either of the coaches, so both simultaneously decided to resort to substitutions.

But if Zidane limited himself to bringing Azar to the field, Tuchel threw three players into battle at once.

The Pulisic - Werner duo were replaced by Havertz and Ziyech, and Rhys James came out instead of the tired Cesar Azpilicueta.

However, these reshuffles did not affect the course of the meeting in any way.

Real Madrid had a little more possession of the ball and managed to narrow the gap a little in terms of the number of strikes.

If after the first 45 minutes Chelsea were leading with a score of 8: 3, then at the end of the match this ratio was 12:10.

At the same time, the owners no longer managed to bother Mendy, and the same Benzema remained the author of the only hit on target.

Nevertheless, one poignant moment at the gates of the guests still arose again after the standard.

Karim and Marcelo kissed the ball in turn, but the defenders were on the way.

Both teams frankly played out the last minutes of the match.

Zidane released Marco Asensio, Alvaro Odriosole and Rodrigo on the field, but none of them had a significant impact on the course of the meeting.

Real Madrid and Chelsea drew and left the Champions League final until the return leg.