Champions League: Benzema’s hattrick sinks Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Villarreal upset Bayern Munich

Karim Benzema’s hat-trick fired Real Madrid to a stunning 3-1 win against Chelsea that put the Champions League holders on the brink of elimination after a dramatic quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

Benzema produced a masterclass at Stamford Bridge as the France striker netted twice in the first half with two perfectly-taken headers.

Kai Havertz reduced the deficit before the interval, but Benzema punished a woeful mistake from Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy in the second half to complete his treble.

It was the sublime Benzema’s second successive Champions League hat-trick after he single-handedly inspired their epic comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16-second leg.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side are in pole position to advance to the semi-finals as they return to Madrid for the second leg on April 12.

After losing to Chelsea in last season’s Champions League semi-finals, Real will have the opportunity to exact revenge at the Bernabeu.

Real won the last of their 13 Champions League titles in 2018 and, while they may not be favourites in this year’s tournament, their ruthless victory in west London was a significant statement of intent from the La Liga leaders.

Chelsea were a shadow of the supremely organised side that marched to their second Champions League crown last year and won six successive games in all competitions before the recent international break.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel had dismissed Saturday’s 4-1 home defeat against Brentford in the Premier League as nothing to worry about.

But in truth that shock loss had exposed some major flaws in Chelsea’s defence that Real gleefully exploited.

Ancelotti, who led Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2010, was back on the bench after testing negative for Covid and Real were quickly into their stride.

An incisive counter saw Federico Valverde and Benzema combine to set up Vinicius Junior for a fierce strike that cannoned off the bar.

Thibaut Courtois was mercilessly booed by Blues fans on his return to the Bridge, where he spent seven seasons as Chelsea’s keeper before joining Real in 2018.

But there was sweet revenge for Courtois as Benzema put Real ahead in the 21st minute.

Rapier Thrust

It was a rapier thrust, with Benzema sending Vinicius surging away from the out of position Andreas Christensen.

Vinicius’s cross was perfect for Benzema and he looped a superb header over Mendy into the top corner from 10 yards.

Benzema was proving Madrid’s maestro once again and three minutes later he doubled Real’s advantage.

Showing all his experience, the 34-year-old peeled away from Thiago Silva before planting a clinical header into the far corner from Luka Modric’s pin-point cross.

It was Benzema’s 10th Champions League goal this term, equalling the European Cup record for a Frenchman set by Just Fontaine in 1958-59.

Chelsea were shell-shocked and Dani Carvajal slalomed through for a shot that Mendy blocked before Christensen scrambled it off the line.

Tuchel’s team desperately needed a response and Havertz delivered five minutes before half-time.

Jorginho’s deft cross caught Carvajal ball-watching and Havertz glided behind him to bury a powerful header past Courtois for his 12th goal this season.

Tuchel sent on Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech at half-time, but Mendy’s nightmare moment arrived just one minute after the break.

There should have been no danger when Mendy intercepted a long pass outside his area, but the Senegal keeper horribly miscued his ball towards Antonio Rudiger.

Benzema punished Rudiger’s surprising reluctance to commit to the tackle, stealing possession to slot into the empty net as Tuchel looked on in disbelief.

Benzema is the first player to score hat-tricks in consecutive Champions League knockout ties since Cristiano Ronaldo for Real in 2017.

Chelsea tried to hit back and Courtois made a brilliant tip-over from Cesar Azpilicueta’s strike.

But Romelu Lukaku’s wretched-headed miss summed up a night to forget for Chelsea, whose last chance saw their nemesis Courtois deny Reece James.

In the other game of the night, Villarreal inflicted a shock 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich as Arnaut Danjuma’s strike boosted the Spanish team’s hopes of causing a huge upset in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Danjuma diverted in Dani Parejo’s shot in the eighth minute at La Ceramica to seal a surprise win, with Bayern perhaps even fortunate not to be further behind going into the second leg in Germany next week.

Gerard Moreno hit the post and then curled a long-range effort agonisingly wide after Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer had skewed a clearance, briefly leaving his own net gaping.

“We produced a tremendous performance and to be honest we should have won by more,” said Villarreal’s Giovani Lo Celso.

“We were much better than Bayern tonight,” said Dani Parejo. “We’ve beaten one of the best teams in the world.”

Julian Nagelsmann’s six-time European champions will still be heavy favourites to overturn the deficit at the Allianz Arena but Villarreal showed again they are not to be underestimated, having already sent Juventus crashing out in the last 16.

“It’s a deserved defeat, we weren’t good,” admitted Nagelsmann. “In the first half we had too little power, we didn’t create chances and we gave up control.”

Unai Emery’s side were seen as one of the kindest opponents available in the draw last month, with perhaps only Benfica placed lower than them in the quarter-finals pecking order.

Bayern, nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, up against a Villarreal side who sit seventh in La Liga, 12 points off the top four, and into the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since 2009.

Yet Emery’s side have a knack for rising to the occasion, having gone unbeaten in four league games against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid this term, after defeating both Arsenal and Manchester United en route to winning the Europa League last year.

Faster, Hungrier

They were faster and hungrier than Bayern all over the pitch in the first half and in the eighth minute, took the lead.

The excellent Lo Celso found space on the halfway line and drove forward, playing right to Moreno, who pushed the ball forward to the line where Lo Celso had continued his run.

Lo Celso stabbed a brilliant cut-back with the outside of his left foot to Parejo, whose skewed finish would probably have been saved by Neuer, only for Danjuma to intervene, diverting it away from the goalkeeper and into the opposite corner.

Villarreal kept coming and thought they had a second although it would have been a fluke. Off-balance, Francis Coquelin wedged a left-footed cross into the box but it wandered off course, plopping over Neuer and into the net. Coquelin was just offside.

Bayern were rattled, incapable of establishing control. They should have been two down in the second half as Moreno struck the post from distance before being denied a simple finish by a last-ditch block from Alphonso Davies.

Moreno’s best chance came just after the hour as Neuer came a long way out of his goal, only to scuff his clearance straight to the forward, who had an open goal and a whole half of pitch in front of him.

With Neuer sprinting back, a long shot curled just wide of the post.

Davies unleashed two shots at Villarreal’s goal while Kingsley Coman’s rasping effort had to be tipped wide by Geronimo Rulli as Bayern briefly threatened.

But it was their opponents who had the best chances on the counter-attack, Lo Celso guilty of waiting too long in the area on one break, before Alfonso Pedraza blazed wide at the end of another. Bayern may be relieved the deficit stayed at one. (Based on AFP reports)