Up until the 85th minute, the fear had nagged away at Chelsea. It was not based on anything much that Real Madrid had shown on the field across the two legs of this Champions League semi-final – apart from perhaps the latent menace of Karim Benzema. Rather it took in the aura of the 13-times champions, their reputation as the ultimate survivors. While they had a pulse, a puncher’s chance at the equaliser for 1-1 and extra time, they could not be ruled out.
Chelsea had done everything to add to Timo Werner’s goal midway through the first half except put the ball in the net. If they had enjoyed the better of the first leg in Madrid last Tuesday, this was on another level, particularly in the second half.
