Luka Modric pays Chelsea the ultimate compliment

The Croatian paid tribute to the outgoing European champions following an epic quarter-final showdown.

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has hailed Chelsea as ‘the most difficult team to play against’ in the Champions League.

The Blues lost their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid 5-4 on aggregate. They stormed into a 3-0 lead to spark an incredible comeback in the second leg. Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger, and Timo Werner scored.

In the final 10 minutes, however, Real Madrid pulled back. Modric was the hero. He produced an outrageous outside-of-the-boot assist for Rodrygo to put away. The goal leveled the aggregate scoreline at 4-4. It sent the second leg into extra time. Karim Benzema later headed home another goal to send the Madrid hosts to the semi-finals, and Chelsea packing.

‘Chelsea are the most difficult team to play against’

Nevertheless, Chelsea’s performance drew big praise afterward from Modric.

“I think mister [Carlo Ancelotti] did great changes and [the subs] did well, they had a great impact on the game,” the 36-year-old told BT Sport.

“Certainly in this competition experience plays an important role and I think today it helped us a bit.

“But Chelsea, we knew it even after the first game, that we would have a tough game. Because they are, for me, the most difficult team to play against. I watch them a lot because of my friend Mateo [Kovacic], how they play, and they are a very tough, physical team, very compact.

“We knew that it was going to be tough – just like it was. But in the end we showed again great character, great desire, great togetherness and we managed to turn it around, which is amazing. A defeat that is very sweet!”

Modric added: “Unbelievable to describe this game. We were dead until the goal we scored. Chelsea scored three goals, maybe the first a bit lucky from a deflection. I can’t say we played badly.

“They used their chances well and scored the goals. We didn’t give up. We kept believing, fighting, and in the end showed huge character. This stadium and the fans were very helpful when we were losing 3-0. They kept supporting us and it gave us a boost to keep believing.”

What next for Real Madrid?

Real Madrid will face either Manchester City or local rivals Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

For now, however, attention diverts back to La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti’s side will visit Sevilla on Sunday. At the time of writing, Bet365 has priced a Los Blancos win at 2.40. This suggests they have a 42% chance of collecting all three points.