Thibaut Courtois has denied claims got ‘lucky’ in their quarter-final win over .
Chelsea, who , had to and produced a superb display at the Bernabeu to almost stun La Liga champions-elect Madrid.
gave the Blues hope with an early strike and Antonio Rudiger made it 2-0 shortly after half-time. Chelsea were going through when Timo Werner added a third with 15 minutes remaining, but Madrid responded brilliantly.
Rodrygo latched onto a stunning pass from Luka Modric to send the tie to extra-time and Karim Benzema – who scored a hat-trick in the first leg at Stamford Bridge – headed the decisive goal in the 96th minute to send Real through 5-4 on aggregate.
Chelsea were arguably the better team at the Bernabeu and Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz and Jorginho all went close to either settling the tie or forcing a penalty shootout late on.
But Real Madrid hero and former Chelsea star Courtois said: ‘We weren’t lucky, but it’s true that they were the better team. We ultimately won the tie.’
Former England goalkeeper Rob Green was among those to hail Chelsea’s Champions League performance against Real Madrid and admit he was surprised the Spanish side progressed.
‘They put their hearts and souls into this game and they implemented the strategy perfectly,’ Green, who spent a brief spell with Chelsea towards the end of his career, told the .
‘Real Madrid looked lost. They looked like they didn’t have a clue and they looked short on confidence.
‘But this is what Real Madrid do, they have players that produce moments and this time it was Modric, it was Courtois and then it was Benzema. That was enough.
‘You have to go back to the first leg and say it just wasn’t good enough and really they just gave themselves too much to do. It was a wholehearted performance from everyone and that needed to happen from the start.’
Ex-Blues midfielder Karen Carney added: ‘Chelsea were sensational. They left nothing out there.
‘Sometimes unfortunately you play really well and don’t go through and that’s been the case for Chelsea. They didn’t play well last week. They didn’t bring their best version and ultimately that’s what cost them.
‘They gave everything in Madrid but the bottom line is they have conceded five goals. You can’t concede five goals in this part of the competition and think “we can outscore you”.’
Chelsea will now turn their attentions to the Premier League as they aim to secure third-place and the FA Cup ahead of a semi-final clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Real Madrid, who are currently 12 points clear at the top of La Liga, will face either Manchester City or Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Premier League leaders City travel to Madrid on Wednesday night, having .
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