Berlin, 19 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Rodrygo's brace led Real Madrid to a 2-0 win at Chelsea and into the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday, while Milan made it to the next stage despite a 1-1 draw at Napoli.

Milan can now face a city derby in the semi-finals, as cross-town rivals Inter Milan host Benfica on Wednesday holding a 2-0 advantage, while Madrid will play either Manchester City or Bayern Munich, with the English side travelling to Germany after a 3-0 win in the first leg.

Title holders Madrid travelled to London with a 2-0 advantage and seemed a bit off as Chelsea showed more intensity in the first half.

But Rodrygo made the difference when he got an opener in the 58th minute and sealed the semi-finals spot by completing a brace in the 80th.

"This was a match where we really had to suffer to win. That was no surprise to us against a team like Chelsea in a match of this importance," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

Milan had the 1-0 advantage from the first leg but saw Olivier Giroud miss a penalty in the 22nd and when Napoli completely dominated the offensive actions.

The French striker, however, made up for his mistake when he didn't waste Rafael Leão's assist to score in the 43rd.

Napoli top scorer Victor Osimhen found the equalizer in stoppage time after team-mate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia missed a spot-kick in the 82nd, but it was already too late for a comeback.

"It has been a long path. We were considered underdogs against Napoli, but I coach a group with a big heart. We grit our teeth and suffered (but) deserved the qualification," coach Stefano Pioli said.

Madrid missed their typical intensity, giving Chelsea hopes of a turnaround, but still had almost all the significant goal chances - at least until Thibaut Courtois made a huge save to deny Marc Cucurella from close range shortly before the break.

N'Golo Kanté could have broken the deadlock for Chelsea in the 52nd but Éder Militão made a crucial intervention to stop the ball from falling into the net.

Chelsea's task then got much more difficult when Rodrygo got the opener for Madrid just six minutes later. He collected a long pass from Militão and played the ball across the goal before receiving a return pass from Vinicius Jr to slot it home.

Rodrygo ultimately booked the ticket to the semi-finals for the holders once he finished off an assist from Federico Valverde in the 80th.

"I still don't know how to explain how the Champions League makes us all react and perform but I have to say that it's very special indeed," the Brazilian said.

"Whenever I play, my only intention is to help my team. Now I want to keep playing - and scoring - and I want to win more Champions League trophies."

Chelsea coach Frank Lampard said his side played "really well for 60 minutes. We created chances but you have to take them. You don't want to praise the performance too much when you lose at this level but we were much improved."

Serie A leaders Napoli have clearly been the dominant team in Italy this season, but against Milan they were unable to take their chances.

They were lucky when Alex Meret saved Giroud's spot-kick after Leão was fouled in the box, but weren't so fortunate when the French striker was found by Leão unmarked in front of the goal and didn't waste his chance.

"I was frustrated with missing the penalty. It's been a long time since I missed one, I was very disappointed, but the most important thing is that we stayed in the game," Giroud said.

It simply wasn't Napoli's night as goal shots were either off target or saved by Milan keeper Maignan, who dived to his right to block Kvaratskhelia's penalty, denying the hosts the chance to add some late drama into the game.

Napoli top star Osimhen saw little of the ball until his last-gasp equalizer, but despite his efforts to rush both sides back into the game, it was already too late.

"We had a great performance today, we created chances and gave our all until the very end. We're disappointed because we wanted to progress. This doesn't cancel out the great season we're having," Meret said.

Photo: EPA