Back-to-back Champions League hat tricks just reinforce the enduring value of Karim Benzema's clinical finishing to Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti sees so much more being provided by the 34-year-old forward he compares him to fine wine.
"He is more of a leader every day," the Madrid coach said after Benzema's goals produced a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
"He feels more and more important in this team and I think that's what makes the difference. He has so much more personality. He is an example for everyone."
This latest goal burst could end Chelsea's title defence, barring the type of second-leg collapse by Madrid that Paris Saint-Germain endured last month at the Santiago Bernabu Stadium.
Benzema now has 37 goals in 36 games in all competitions this season, including the three that turned around the last-16 meeting with PSG.
"They're magic nights," Benzema said.
"Today we came out to win, to show we're Real Madrid. Things worked out well for us as we played well, from the first minute to the last."
The France international is almost single-handedly keeping the Spanish giants on the path to a record-extending 14th European Cup—and a fifth for himself—and powering them to regaining the La Liga title.
Of Madrid's last 11 goals, 10 have been scored by the mainstay of the team for the last 13 years.
The first two at Stamford Bridge were thumping headers inside three first-half minutes in the driving rain, while the third was gifted to him in a manner that raised doubts about whether Chelsea can muster a comeback in Madrid on Tuesday.
"I think it helped us that our build-up play from the back was good," said Ancelotti, who won the 2010 Premier League with Chelsea.
"We found space between the lines. And then with Benzema and Vinicius we were dangerous."
Chelsea had given itself hope of recovering when Kai Havertz reduced the deficit with a header five minutes before halftime from Jorginho's cross.
But only a minute of the second half had elapsed when Chelsea's slack defending proved so costly.
Edouard Mendy was about 30 yards out from goal when the ball came to him and the goalkeeper brought it down with his chest. Rather than clearing down the field, he sent a short pass tamely to the dawdling Antonio Rudiger. It was a gift for Benzema to intercept before striking into the unprotected net with Mendy still stranded outside the penalty area.
"I'm happiest to have scored the third," he said, "as I missed one in the first half and I was thinking about that chance because it's very important to score goals. Then I got another and I'm very happy."
The precision of Benzema's first-half headers—after getting on the end of crosses from Vinicius Jr. in the 21st minute and Luka Modric in the 24th—was in contrast to the shortcomings of Chelsea's No 9. Substitute Romelu Lukaku had a great chance with a header of his own when there was still more than 20 minutes to go, but glanced it wide of the post, resulting in groans around Stamford Bridge.
"Very important," Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said of the miss.
An all-English semifinal is looking less likely. The winner of this quarterfinal will face Manchester City or Atletico Madrid, with City ahead 1-0 after Tuesday's first leg at the Etihad Stadium.
Asked whether his quarterfinal was still alive, Tuchel sharply replied: "No."
It showed his frustration after his team's hold on third place in the Premier League was loosened by a surprising 4-1 loss to Brentford on Saturday.
We have to find our level back, Tuchel said, but we don't know where it is.
The most significant action might not even have been on the field for Chelsea on Wednesday. Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly flew in for the game as the tussle to buy the team from sanctioned Russian owner Roman Abramovich intensifies, with the contenders whittled down in recent weeks.
It just adds to the uncertainty hanging over the west London team.
"I will not accept it as an excuse," Tuchel said.
Bayern stunned
Meanwhile, Villarreal pulled off another surprising Champions League result, this time against sixth-time champion Bayern Munich to boost its hopes of returning to the semifinals for the first time in 16 years.
After making it past the group stage and eliminating Juventus in the round of 16, the modest Spanish club took a big step toward reaching the last four by holding on to a 1-0 victory against favorite Bayern in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Arnaut Danjuma's goal early in the first half was enough for Villarreal at the La Cermica Stadium, with Bayern unable to get past the solid defense of Unai Emery's squad and losing only for the second time in 30 Champions League matches.
Bayern was unbeaten in its last 22 away games in the Champions League, with 17 wins and five draws in a record run that had started after a loss in 2017 to a Paris Saint-Germain team coached by Emery.
The Germans struggled throughout the match on Wednesday and were glad to leave only one goal down.
"We'll take the 1-0 result," veteran Thomas Muller said.
"We know that things could have been a lot worse. We have to pay a lot of respects to our opponents. Now we need to pick ourselves back up for the return leg and hit back."
The second leg is next week in Munich, where Villarreal will need a draw to get to the semifinals for the first time since its first last-four appearance in the Champions League in 2006. Villarreal stunned Juventus 3-0 in Italy after a 1-1 draw at home in the last 16.
In the other quarterfinal Wednesday, defending champion Chelsea lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the first leg in London.
"We deserved to lose. We weren't good today," Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said.
"In the first half, we lacked power in defense and had too few chances. The second half was a completely wild game. We gave up control because we were desperate to score, but we could have conceded two more."
Villarreal looked in control from the start and Bayern struggled to create significant scoring chances. The hosts threatened the most and had some good chances to add to its lead.
There was talk about them being favorites and wanting to seal their place in the semifinals tonight, but we came out very hungry, very humble, Villarreal midfielder Giovani Lo Celso said.
There's no doubt they are one of the best teams in the world, but we managed the game well and could have scored even more goals.
Danjuma opened the scoring in the eighth minute by redirecting a close-range shot by Dani Parejo as the Bayern defense was caught off guard. It was Danjuma's sixth goal in nine Champions League appearances this season, and seventh in 11 career games in the competition.
Villarreal thought it had doubled the lead in the 41st but Francis Coquelin's goal from a tough angle was disallowed for offside.
Striker Gerard Moreno twice had opportunities to add to Villarreal's lead after that. First with a low shot from outside the area that hit the post in the 53rd, and 10 minutes later after intercepting a bad pass by Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer near midfield and missing his long-range shot into the open net. The ball ended up curling too much as Neuer desperately tried to run back into position.
Bayern increased the pressure near the end but again it was Villarreal that nearly added to the lead when substitute Alfonso Pedraza missed from close range on a counterattack in the 87th.
Villarreal did a good job containing Robert Lewandowski throughout the match and he had few opportunities inside the area. He entered the match as the Champions League's leading scorer with 12 goals from eight matches and had scored seven goals in his last five games in all competitions. The Poland striker is ranked third on the all-time list of Champions League scorers, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Bayern's Canadian player Alphonso Davies made his first appearance since Dec 17 after a long injury layoff because of cardiac issues.
Villarreal, based in a city of about 50,000 people, is playing in the quarterfinals for the first time in 13 years. It qualified for the Champions League by winning last season's Europa League.
Bayern was eliminated by PSG at this stage last season. The German club made it to the last eight 10 times in the last 11 seasons. The team is playing in the quarterfinals for a record 20th time.
The winner will play either Benfica or Liverpool in the semifinals. Liverpool won the first leg in Lisbon 3-1.
