Chelsea were facing a season-defining game against the 14-time winners and needed to show plenty of resilience to overcome Europe’s most successful side after a chastening series of results.
Last week’s 2-0 first-leg defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu left Frank Lampard’s men with a mountain to climb, and expectations were understandably low on this spring evening in West London.
The Stamford Bridge crowd had been given very little to cheer about in recent weeks but were encouraged by an early Blues chance. Trevoh Chalobah picked out Reece James down the right-hand side; his cross was played into the path of N'Golo Kante by Kai Havertz but the Frenchman’s scuffed shot went well wide.
Real Madrid then came close to extending their aggregate lead when Rodrygo’s shot cannoned off the post after being teed up by Dani Carvajal, and there were further chances for Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior as the half drew on, but it was far from one-way traffic.
Lampard would have been pleased by his side’s gutsy display to this point, and they should have been ahead going into halftime when Thibaut Courtois kept out Marc Cucurella’s effort after being brilliantly picked out by James from the right flank.
Chelsea fans were sensing that an extraordinary comeback could happen, as Kante’s close-range attempt was blocked by Eder Militao after the Frenchman was set up by Conor Gallagher.
However, the stuffing was kicked out of Lampard’s men when Real moved ahead on the night and increased their aggregate lead to 3-0 thanks to Rodrygo. The Brazilian ended a Real Madrid counter-attack with ruthless efficiency from inside the box, mercilessly exploiting the gaps left in defence by a Chelsea side going for broke.
There was an evident sense of deflation in the ground, with pride, rather than a place in the last four, now at stake for the hosts.
Mykhailo Mudryk was part of a triple change for the Blues midway through the second half, and the Ukrainian showed a glimpse of his ability with a neat touch and turn on the edge of the box, although his subsequent shot was high, wide, and not so handsome.
Rodrygo then added his second to put yet another nail in Chelsea’s coffin with a stunningly composed finish following some sumptuous link-up play involving Vinicius and Federico Valverde - a goal worthy of settling any European tie, ensuring Los Blancos claimed a fourth win from their last five clashes with English clubs outside of Spain.
Meanwhile, it was a case of what might have been for Chelsea, whose winless run extends to seven matches across all competitions (D2 L5).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rodrygo (Real Madrid)