This tie represents a last chance saloon for two sides faltering in their respective league seasons.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side sit 13 points adrift of Barcelona, while Chelsea’s situation is even more critical given their lowly position of 11th, meaning that anything other than a third Champions League title would surely see them fail to qualify for Europe’s premier cup competition next season.
With that in mind, there was an open start to the contest in the Spanish capital, as N'Golo Kante picked out Joao Felix, but the latter’s effort was kept out by Thibaut Courtois.
However, the Bernabeu roar was loud and clear when Karim Benzema put Los Blancos in front with his 90th goal in the competition.
Dani Carvajal lofted a simple ball over the Blues defence to Vinicius Junior, whose initial shot was saved by Courtois and the Frenchman slotted home the rebound for his 26th goal of the season in all competitions.
Chelsea nearly made an immediate response thanks to some fine work by Reece James, after he picked out Raheem Sterling, whose effort was brilliantly kept out by Courtois at his near post.
Thiago Silva then produced a superb clearance from the six-yard box to keep out another Vinícius effort, leaving Frank Lampard’s side still very much in the tie heading into the break.
But Los Blancos were inches away from doubling their advantage with Vinicius causing mayhem down the left flank and pulling the ball back from Benzema, who in turn teed up Luka Modric for a long-range effort that skimmed the roof of the net.
Lampard was forced to reshuffle his defensive pack when Kalidou Koulibaly was forced off injured after a chase with Rodrygo and Marc Cucurella entered the fray.
Rodrygo played a starring role again in the match moments later after the Brazilian was brought down by Ben Chilwell as he raced towards goal, and the England defender received a straight red card.
From that point, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Chelsea and Ancelotti’s men had a second goal through substitute Marco Asensio, who made an immediate impact from the bench.
His strike from the edge of the area beat Kepa following a wonderfully-worked corner involving Modric, Toni Kroos and Vinicius.
It was a case of damage limitation for the remainder of the game and a two-goal deficit leaves Chelsea with a glimmer of hope heading into next Tuesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
This result ended a four-match unbeaten run on Spanish soil, leaving the Blues to reflect on more pain at the Bernabeu after a futile 3-2 win at this ground 365 days previously saw them exit the Champions League at this stage of the competition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
