28 Mar 2012

Chelsea and Real Mdrid score first up wins in Europe

6:46 pm on 28 March 2012

The London football club Chelsea took a big step towards the last four of the Champions League after scoring a 1-nil victory over Portuguese giants Benfica in their quarter-final first-leg match in Lisbon.

A 75th-minute strike from Salomon Kalou gave Chelsea a hard-fought win after Benfica had carved out the better chances but failed to land the knockout blow against their Premier League opponents.

The win puts Chelsea firmly on course to reach their sixth Champions League semi-final in nine seasons heading into the return leg at Stamford Bridge next week.

Nine-times European champions Real Madrid beat APOEL Nicosia 3-nil in Cypus with French striker Karim Benzema scoring twice and and Brazilian Kaka getting the other.