The Bernabéu law
Goals from Karim Benzema (21) and Marco Asensio (74) give Real Madrid a good advantage against a Chelsea team that has played with ten since Ben Chilwell was sent off in minute 59.
One year later, day by day, from the game that gave Real Madrid a place in the semifinals of the Champions League against Chelsea last season, the white team dominated the English team, whose objective from the beginning was to try to get out of the Bernabéu alive.
With a five-man defense and counter-attack as their main weapon, Frank Lampard’s team was the first, however, to scare the home crowd after a great run by Joao Félix, whose shot was saved by Thibaut Courtois (2).
It was practically the only occasion in which the Portuguese was seen, on loan from Atlético de Madrid, who gradually disappeared from the game until he was replaced by Trevoh Chaolobah (65), amid the whistles from the Bernabéu.
After the initial suffocation, Real Madrid took control of the game. Karim Benzema warned with a shot almost without an angle stopped by Kepa (12), before reappearing to push a ball that his teammate Vinicius had left dead on the line, after finishing off a cross from Dani Carvajal.
Already in the second half, Asensio, who had come on for Rodrygo (71), received a pass from Vinicius on the edge of the area to unleash a shot that slipped into the goal tight to the post.
Maignan against enthusiasm
At the San Siro, Napoli came out enthusiastic, infected in the Champions League with the state of excitement typical of a team that is about to reconquer the Scudetto, which they only won with Diego Maradona in 1987 and 1990.
The carousel of occasions for the team led by Luciano Spalletti lasted 15 minutes, the most dangerous being the first, when 60 seconds had not been reached. But the Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the great revelation of European football, lacked malice.
Then Mike Maignan, the brand new starting goalkeeper for the French team, showed gallons with two slaps (4 and 11) at distant shots from Anguissa and Piotr Zielinski.
Little by little, Milan settled down and delivered the blow just before the break (40): the Spanish Brahim Díaz started a ride with an elegant gesture that left two rivals behind and Ismaël Bennacer concluded the play with a whiplash.
In 1974, Napoli lost Frank Anguissa, who saw the second yellow for a tackle on Theo Hernandez, so in the final stretch he dedicated himself to minimizing damage.
With only one goal against, Spalletti’s team, which this Wednesday could not count on its best scorer Victor Osimhen due to injury, relies on the magic of the Diego Maradona stadium to continue dreaming this season.