Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta, right, duels for the ball with Porto's Mehdi Taremi during the Champions League quarter final second leg soccer match between Chelsea and Porto at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, in Seville, Spain. Porto won 1-0 on April 13, 2021.The Associated Press
A spectacular goal from a scissor kick by Mehdi Taremi wasn’t enough to earn Porto a place in the Champions League semi-final as Chelsea advanced despite a 1-0 loss in the second leg of their quarter-final on Tuesday.
Chelsea went through 2-1 on aggregate and will play either Real Madrid or Liverpool in the last four, which the English club has reached for the first time since 2014.
Taremi’s acrobatic volley, following a cross from the right, came in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time and lit up a lacklustre game in Seville, which hosted both legs of the quarter-final because of coronavirus restrictions. It came too late to rescue Porto, which had been successfully stifled up to that point.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is looking to return to the Champions League final, where he led Paris Saint-Germain last season before a loss to Bayern Munich.
Under the German coach, Chelsea has only conceded one goal in four knockout matches, having nullified Atletico Madrid in the last 16. While he has largely sorted out the team’s defence, Chelsea’s attack is still a work in progress and will likely need to improve if it is to win the competition for a second time, after 2012.