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Real Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinals tie. French superstar Karim Benzema stole the show with his hat-trick as Kai Havertz scored a consolation goal for the Blues.
Thomas Tuchel put out a strong lineup as he brought Jorginho back into midfield with an attacking trio of Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount. Cesar Azpilicueta started at left-back, with Marcos Alonso being dropped to the bench.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, brought in Federico Valverde to replace Marco Asensio in attack. Dani Carvajal took up his regular position at right-back instead of Lucas Vazquez. Star striker Karim Benzema led the line, with a midfield of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro behind him.
The visitors started the game on fire with Karim Benzema quickly putting his side two goals to the good. The Frenchman opened the scoring in the 21st minute, latching onto Vinicius Jr's cross to head past Edouard Mendy. Three minutes later, the striker was on hand again to double Real Madrid's lead, this time heading Modric's cross past the Chelsea goalkeeper.
The Blues seemed shellshocked by Los Blancos' quickfire double, but carried on in their search for a goal. Their pressure paid off in the 40th minute when Havertz got on the end of Jorginho's cross to make it 2-1. The two sides went into half-time with Chelsea having it all to do to get back into the game.
Real Madrid talisman Benzema completes his hat-trick to sink Chelsea in the second half
The second-half started in the same fashion as the first, as Benzema took advantage of a terrible pass by Mendy to score his hat-trick and make it 3-1 to Real Madrid. Chelsea continued their search for a goal with Mount and substitute Romelu Lukaku spurning huge chances to bring Tuchel's side back into the game.
Los Blancos did well to subdue the Blues' constant pressure as Carlo Ancelotti's side won the game 3-1. They should be confident going into the second leg next week.
With that being said, here are the best Twitter reactions to Madrid's 3-1 win over Chelsea:
