Five transfer lessons from Real Madrid’s epic Chelsea win
Carlo Garganese
- 13 Apr 2022 10:45 CDT
- 4 min read
Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final triumph against Chelsea this season will go down as one of the greatest ties in the competition’s history.
Madrid won the first leg at Stamford Bridge 3-1 thanks to a brilliant Karim Benzema hattrick but Chelsea launched a thrilling comeback in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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After racing into a 3-0 lead on Tuesday night, Madrid took the game to extra time with a late goal from Rodrygo. And Benzema proved to be the hero in the extra 30 as he headed home to give Madrid a 5-4 win on aggregate.
But what transfer lessons will Madrid and Chelsea take from this classic? Here are five below.
Madrid must extend Modric’s contract
Luka Modric turns 37 this year but he showed once again during this tie that he remains one of the best central midfielders in the world.
The timeless playmaker ran the show in London and he proved decisive in Madrid at a time when the tie was running away from the home side.
Shortly after going 3-0 behind on the night and 4-3 behind on aggregate, the Croatia international produced a wonderful outside-of-the-boot cross to Rodrgyo, who volleyed home first time.
Modric’s contract expires at the end of the season and, while both player and club want to extend and will sit down calmly in May, Madrid need to get the midfield legend tied down for another year now.
Madrid don’t need Haaland
Karim Benzema showed during this tie that he is now arguably the best striker in world football, even better than Robert Lewandowski.
Benzema scored four of Madrid’s five aggregate goals, including a devastating hattrick at Stamford Bridge. His first two goals in west London were barely half-chances, while he scored the decisive goal in extra time on Wednesday.
Benzema now has 38 goals in 38 games for Real Madrid in 2021/22 – and over 50 goals and assists combined.
Spending over €300 million on transfer fees, wages and commission for an increasingly injury-prone Erling Haaland does not seem wise when Madrid already have the perfect number 9.
Chelsea pay price for botched Lukaku deal
As detailed above, Benzema ultimately proved the difference between Chelsea going through and going out in this tie.
If Benzema had been wearing a Chelsea shirt, the Blues would comfortably have advanced to the next round.
When Chelsea splashed out €115m on Romelu Lukaku last summer, he was meant to fill their number 9 void and provide them with a prolific world-class striker.
Lukaku has proved to be a disaster and the club have already as good as given up on him. He started neither game, coming on in the first leg and missing a sitter and not playing at all in Madrid.
Chelsea missed far too many chances in attack over these two games – to put it simply, they still have no striker.
Is Rudiger that irreplaceable?
Antonio Rudiger’s contract expires in the summer and – given the club’s ownership situation – it is looking unlikely he will extend.
This has been a huge cause for concern for Chelsea, who are also set to lose Andreas Christensen on a free transfer to Barcelona.
Rudiger has been the biggest success story since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival in January 2021. For the next 12 months he played at a world-class level.
But the mistakes that were evident throughout Rudiger’s career at Roma and then under Frank Lampard at Chelsea have creeped back in the last few months – and especially against Madrid.
He was at fault for Benzema’s hattrick goal in London and was shaky throughout the 180 minutes – despite also scoring. Is he now returning to his normal level after a red-hot year?
Madrid need centre backs
Real Madrid’s first priority in the summer transfer market should be to sign at least one quality centre back.
Aside from Eder Militao and David Alaba, none of Madrid’s other centre backs are up to the level required against the very best.
That was demonstrated against Chelsea with Militao missing. Nacho struggled in his place and Madrid actually finished the game with Lucas Vazquez at right, Marcelo at left back and Dani Carvajal partnering Alaba.
That kind of backline does not win you Champions Leagues – and Madrid are lucky that Chelsea did not make them pay.
