Karim Benzema winks at the camera, Vinicius and Rodrygo are all smiles and Carlo Ancelotti rocks the shades! Real Madrid look relaxed as they jet into London aiming to finish the job against Chelsea and make the Champions League semi-finals
Real Madrid’s players looked relaxed as they jetted to London on a mission to make it into the Champions League semi-finals.
The reigning European champions lead Chelsea 2-0 thanks to goals by Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio in last week’s first leg at the Bernabeu.
And they will be strong favourites to set up a likely last four clash with Manchester City in Tuesday night’s return leg at Stamford Bridge.
Dressed in attire from luxury fashion label Zegna, the Real players and staff were in upbeat mood as they boarded their flight to London on Monday morning.
Benzema winked playfully for the cameras as he walked up the steps, while Luka Modric, David Alaba, Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr and Co were all smiles as they posed for pictures.
Real Madrid stars (left to right) Lucas Vazquez, Karim Benzema, Dani Carvajal and Nacho Fernandez pose for a picture on the plane ahead of their trip to London
David Alaba (left) and Luka Modric (right) pose for a picture as Real Madrid prepare to take on Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final
Rodrygo (left) and Vinicius Jr (right) were all smiles ahead of Real’s visit to London
Karim Benzema winked for the camera as he boarded the plane on Monday morning
Manager Carlo Ancelotti looked the epitome of Italian style as he paired shades with a smart suit and tie.
Real were buoyed ahead of the second leg by Saturday’s 2-0 win over Cadiz, which kept alive their slim hopes of catching Barcelona at the top of LaLiga.
Goals by Nacho and Asensio kept them 11 points adrift of their rivals with nine rounds of the season left to play. Atletico Madrid are just a couple of points behind them.
While Real can still win the Copa del Rey – they take on Osasuna in the Seville final on May 6 – they know a 15th European Cup/Champions League triumph would eclipse Barcelona’s league title.
To achieve that, they must finish the job against a wounded Chelsea who suffered a third consecutive loss under interim boss Frank Lampard when going down 2-1 at home to Brighton.
Should they make it through, City are expected to lie in wait given their commanding 3-0 first leg lead over Bayern Munich.
English clubs certainly hold no fear for Real, who beat Chelsea 5-4 on aggregate at this same stage last season, albeit after being taken to extra time in the Bernabeu.
A dramatic late show then saw them overcome City 6-5 on aggregate in a classic semi-final tie, before Vinicius scored the decisive goal in their 1-0 win over Liverpool in the final.
Marco Asensio (left), who scored in the first leg, and Eder Militao (right) on the plane
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti looked cool in his suit and sunglasses as he headed to England
Karim Benzema celebrates after putting Real Madrid ahead in their 2-0 first leg victory
Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell was shown a straight red card just before the hour mark for pulling back Madrid star Rodrygo
Substitute Marco Asensio gave Madrid breathing space and a two-goal cushion
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