Thriller in Madrid and drama in Munich: Real Madrid missed three times and escaped, and Villarreal knocked out Bayern with a goal in the end

The incredible rescue of Real Madrid

Having suffered a major defeat at home, Chelsea found themselves in a difficult situation.

To qualify for the semi-finals, the reigning Champions League winner needed to beat Real Madrid by three goals away.

And this mission was considered by many to be practically impossible, including the mentor of the Londoners, Thomas Tuchel.

This season, Madrid have lost only twice in their field, and only once - with a big score.

It happened in the disastrous El Clasico, during which Barcelona sent four unanswered goals to Thibaut Courtois.

Chelsea's situation was aggravated by personnel losses.

Romelu Lukaku suffered an Achilles injury and did not fly to the Spanish capital, and Cesar Azpilicueta, who had coronavirus, remained on the field in question.

As a result, the captain nevertheless got into the application, but did not appear in the starting lineup.

Tuchel decided to save the Spaniard, and in his absence was forced to move away from his favorite scheme with three central defenders, relying on a bunch of Thiago Silva - Antonio Rudiger.

However, not only the German specialist could not count on all the key performers.

So, the second leg was missed by the central defender of the hosts Eder Militao.

True, not because of an injury, but a bust of yellow cards.

Thus, Carlo Ancelotti had no choice but to release the experienced, but not the most reliable Nacho Fernandez at the start.

Yes, and not so often acting in tandem with David Alaba.

As a result, it was the lack of teamwork of the central defenders that helped Chelsea close the gap in the sum of two meetings.

The Austrian adventurously moved forward, and the Spaniard hovered in place, allowing Mason Mount to slip through the defensive formations of Real Madrid.

The young Englishman entered the penalty area and shot irresistibly into the far corner, catching Thibault Courtois by surprise.

Real Madrid seemed to overslept the first third of the half.

The hosts possessed the ball a little more, but passively, practically not trying to aggravate the game and make raids on the gates of Edouard Mendy.

It could be assumed that the missed goal would make them act a little more actively, but this did not happen.

During the first half, Ancelotti's team landed only three shots and gained 0.14 xG.

Yes, Chelsea also could not boast of an abundance of moments, but it looked a little brighter.

True, the second goal of the guests became possible not only thanks to their pressure, but also a small misfire of the chief referee.

Szymon Marciniak mistakenly appointed a corner at the gates of the hosts, concluding that the ball had gone out of bounds from the foot of the Madrid footballer.

Although it is clearly visible on the replay, it was Rhys James who touched him last.

All the same Mount served in the center of the penalty area, and Rüdiger delivered an accurate header.

"Real" tried to start, but it turned out with difficulty.

Yes, Karim Benzema had a couple of chances, but at first he missed, and then checked the strength of the crossbar.

Chelsea caught the courage and rushed to finish off the opponent.

The Londoners could have taken the lead on aggregate in the 63rd minute, but the same Marciniak canceled Marcos Alonso's goal.

And this time, his motives were also not completely clear.

Moments before the impact, the ball hit the Spaniard's hand, and even ricocheted into it from the hip.

Perhaps this is how the Pole decided to return the favor for the last episode. 

And yet, Tuchel's wards scored for the third time, forcing Madrid fans to remember the ill-fated confrontation with Barça.

Timo Werner's goal a quarter of an hour before the end of normal time seemed like a sentence, but at the decisive moment, another miracle was created by Luka Modric.

The Croatian midfielder cut out an incredible pass with a trivel (outer side of the foot), and Rodrigo scored two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

The British had excellent chances to resolve all issues in 90 minutes and not bring the matter to overtime.

Christian Pulisic missed several times from the most advantageous positions, the same overactive Mount dangerously beat, but it was not possible to snatch the victory.

Apparently, this crippled the guests, and Benzema finally finished them off.

In the 96th minute, the Frenchman responded to the pass of Vinicius and "shot" Mendy, scoring the 12th goal in the current draw of the tournament.

As a result, Real Madrid lost 2:3 and inflicted almost three times fewer blows (10:28), but still made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Fantastic tenacity "Villarreal"

On the eve of the return match, there was an impression that almost no one doubts the final success of Bayern.

The team's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said that you can't joke with the Munich team after defeats with a minimum score, clearly hinting at the defeat in the second leg, club legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also expressed confidence in their triumph.

Yes, and the bookmakers expected to take the side of the German giant.

The last time he lost in the playoffs of European competition to a non-top team back in 2008.

Then, in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, it was sensationally passed by Zenit, which subsequently won the trophy.

But already in the first half, it became clear that Bayern was not going to be an easy ride.

Villarreal barricaded themselves in their own half of the field and did not allow the opponent to create a single 100 percent chance.

Five players from the guests were regularly in their own penalty area, and at times they were actively helped by Etienne Capu with Dani Parejo and Giovani Lo Celso, which made it almost impossible to get inside it.

The hosts had to count on long-range strikes, but they did not carry danger.

Moreover, the most poignant episode arose precisely at the gates of Neuer.

Gerard Moreno responded to a partner's pass, but hit the net from the outside.

Bayern broke through in the 52nd minute.

As a result of counter-pressing, Julian Nagelsmann's wards not only made a selection in the opponent's half, but also caught both the defense and the Villarreal goalkeeper by surprise.

Jeronimo Rulli jerked forward, found himself in a half position and was punished.

Robert Lewandowski put his team ahead with a billiard kick and with 13 goals took the lead in the scorers race.

However, the successes of the Germans ended there.

The rest of the time they were knocking around the thresholds of the Spaniards' penalty area, but they were never able to score again.

The closest to this was Thomas Müller, but the implementation let him down.

As a result, by the 88th minute, Bayern were leading 23:3 on shots, and Villarreal never once disturbed Neuer.

And who would have thought that six days later he would be able to repeat his trick and score with the first hit on target.

The lightning-fast counterattack ended with a “shot” by Samu Chukwese from outside the penalty area, and the goalkeeper was powerless.

Villarreal sensationally left Bayern behind and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second time in history.

The last time he succeeded in this was in 2006, when the “yellow submarine” passed the “Rangers” and “Inter” in turn in the playoffs.

Then only Arsenal could stop her.