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A hat-trick by veteran striker Karim Benzema, including two fine headed goals in the space of three first-half minutes, earned Real Madrid a 3-1 win at reigning European champions Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Benzema, 34, claimed his hat-trick when he pounced on an error by Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy just after halftime to put the Spaniards in control of the tie before Tuesday’s second leg in Madrid.

Kai Havertz had restored some hope to the Blues when he headed in an angled pass from Jorginho in the 40th minute to make it 2-1.

But Chelsea’s chances of a comeback were undone by Mendy’s mistake in the 46th minute when, outside his box, he tried to pass to Antonio Rudiger only for Benzema to intercept and steer the ball into an empty net for his 37th goal of the season.

The France striker rocked Chelsea when he converted pinpoint crosses with headers, first from Vinicius Jr from the left in the 21st minute and then from Luka Modric on the right in the 24th, leaving Mendy with no chance on either occasion.

Benzema had looked certain to claim his hat-trick just before halftime but he fired wide with Chelsea’s usually rock-solid defence looking ragged.

“They’re very important goals. I’m happiest to have scored the third 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,” Benzema told Spanish television, according to Reuters.

“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 Spaniards were seeking revenge after the Londoners eliminated them in last season’s semi-finals before the Blues won the trophy in Porto.

There was an early warning sign for the Londoners when Vinicius Jr cracked a shot against the bar in the 10th minute.

Chelsea sought to fight back in the second half with the best chance falling to substitute Romelu Lukaku – Chelsea’s record signing who has struggled to fit in at Stamford Bridge – but he headed narrowly wide as a deflected ball dropped to him on the edge of the six-yard box in the 69th minute.

In the dying moments, Hakim Ziyech, also on as a sub, fired over from 13 yards.

Real – who have been crowned European champions 13 times but had never previously beaten Chelsea – are now in pole position to advance into the semi-finals to face either Manchester City or crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, who spent two years as Chelsea head coach and led the Blues to the Premier League and FA Cup double in the 2009/10 season, hailed his team’s control of the game and the danger they posed on the counterattack, Reuters reported.

“It was a good night but it is only the first half of this round,” he was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Chelsea’s defeat adds to a sense of turmoil with the club put up for sale by Roman Abramovich after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.”

The Russian billionaire has been sanctioned by the British government.

Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said his team had been way off the levels he expects.

“You cannot expect a result from this kind of performance,” he told reporters.

Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets in their IPL match on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported.

Opting to bowl after winning the toss, KKR saw MI recover from 55 for three in the 11th over to post 161 for four.

In reply, KKR chased down the target of 162 with 24 balls to spare. Pat Cummins blasted 56 off 15 balls, while Venkatesh Iyer remained not out on 50.

For Mumbai, Suryakumar Yadav made 52 off 36 balls, while Tilak Varma chipped in with 38 in 27 deliveries. Kieron Pollard smashed an unbeaten 22 off five balls, according to The Indian Express.

Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat got RCB off to a good start but that was undone by them losing four wickets in the space of two overs, Hindustan Times reported.

Dinesh Karthik then walked in and has since taken the chase by the scruff of the neck. Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed, who also joined his senior partner in sending the RR bowlers to all corners of the park, ended up putting up 67 runs off 33 balls for the sixth wicket. The pair took the game away from them and RCB ended up getting over the line with five balls in hand.

Earlier, Jos Buttler was the driving force for Rajasthan Royals once again with his unbeaten 70 off 47 balls led them to a score of 169/3 in 20 overs.

Buttler struggled to score for much of the innings but teed off in the last two overs to take RR close tom 170 on what seems like a sluggish pitch, according to Hindustan Times.

Shimron Hetmyer, meanwhile, finished the innings off with a score and ended up with a score of 42 off 31.

The pair put up an unbeaten 83 off 51 balls for the fourth wicket.

Buttler was dropped twice and he ended up playing through the innings, Hindustan Times reported.

Lucknow Super Giants on Monday beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs to record the second consecutive win of their IPL maiden season, Hindustan Times reported.

Chasing 170 for the win, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost openers Williamson and Abhishek Sharma, and Aiden Markram perished on 12 as the side slumped to 83 for three after 11 overs.

Avesh Khan removed both the openers while Krunal Pandya picked the wicket of Aiden Markram.

Krunal then removed Rahul Tripathi (44) as well. Avesh picked up four and Jason Holder plucked three wickets in the final over as Hyderabad managed to post just 157/9 in 20 overs.

Earlier, KL Rahul (68 off 50) and all-rounder Deepak Hooda (51 off 33 balls) hit half-centuries as Lucknow Super Giants scored 169 for 7, according to Hindustan Times.

Holder finished with 3/34 and Krunal also added two wickets under his belt.