‘There's another 90 minutes to go’

A tap-in by Karim Benzema and a powerful strike by substitute Marco Asensio earned European champions Real Madrid a 2-0 win over 10-man Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg in the Spanish capital on Wednesday.

In a battle between the last two Champions League winners, Madrid demonstrated their strength with an impressive display, while Chelsea showed why they are struggling in 11th in the Premier League.

"You might think we could have pressed more against 10, but when it was eleven against eleven we fought a lot and in the end I think we lacked energy and clarity. We have to come away satisfied but there's another 90 minutes to go. We have to repeat today's game at Stamford Bridge because we know Chelsea will give it their best shot next week," said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

"I have a lot of energy. The team looked very good and I'm very happy. I'm very pleased, but we have to be calm and collected because there are 90 minutes left to play and anything can happen in football. We have to manage our lead there and try to repeat the game we played today," he added.

Ancelotti, who coached Lampard at Chelsea between 2009-2011, relied on veteran midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric to pull the strings.

Lampard, in his second game at the helm since replacing Graham Potter last week, threw Thiago Silva and N'Golo Kante straight into the starting line-up after injury worries.

Kante shone against Madrid in the 2021 semis as Chelsea beat them en route to winning the trophy for the second time, and his performance was one positive for Lampard.

The French midfielder slipped on-loan Atletico striker Joao Felix through at the start, but he fired at former Chelsea stopper Thibaut Courtois.

Madrid fans had shown their support for Fede Valverde before the game, after he allegedly punched Villarreal's Alex Baena on Saturday, and he nearly rewarded them with a piledriver which flew narrowly off-target.

"For me he was the best player on the pitch, he put in a lot of energy," said Ancelotti.

"He was impeccable at recovering the ball."

Benzema, who netted a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge last season and scored the goal which sent Madrid through against the Blues in the second leg, tapped home his sixth goal against Chelsea to open the scoring.

Dani Carvajal lofted a tempting ball over the top and although Kepa got his fingertips to Vinicius's effort, Benzema was left with a simple tap-in.

Chelsea almost produced an instant equaliser but Courtois made a stunning save to deny Raheem Sterling from close range.

Madrid toyed with their opponents, penning them back in their box for large stretches, with Vinicius, Rodrygo and David Alaba going close.