Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that Chelsea will need a miracle to overturn the 3-1 deficit at the Bernabeu following yesterday’s abysmal performance by his side.
Chelsea lost for the first time against Real Madrid in the Champions League after four matches. Karim Benzema’s brilliant couple with defense errors on the part of Chelsea have made their quest to defend the Champions League almost impossible.
The west London club will need to put in an exceptional performance when they play Real Madrid next week if they want to progress to the semi-finals. Only one previous team in the history of the competition has been able to qualify away from home after losing by two or more goals in a Champions League Knockout tie
What did Thomas Tuchel say?
Speaking to Sky Sports after the Chelsea manager said:
“Today, is this [tie] alive with this performance? No, not at the moment.
“We have to find ourselves again, I don’t know where we have been since the international break. Tonight was a repetition of the second half against Brentford in a quarter-final against Real Madrid. Five days, seven goals conceded. I don’t think there is a deeper reason for it. It’s alarming
“With everything the game demands, you cannot expect a result from this kind of performance. We were so far off our level, tactically, individually, in shape, in challenges. We tried to play in a new formation and killed the game off with a big mistake.
“It’s never on one player or players, it’s on all of us, including myself. Individually we lost shape and sharpness. Since the international break, we have not looked the same and I don’t have an explanation. We came from a long winning streak where we were competitive, but the first half was by far not good enough.”
Tuchel also highlighted that how Chelsea responds to their upcoming match with Southampton in the Premier League will be crucial and he is now focusing on the match.
“We have to prepare for Saturday against Southampton and not the [return leg at the] Bernabeu,” Tuchel elaborated. “If we continue to play like this, we will not get a point [at Southampton].
“I worry more about Southampton than Real Madrid in the next week, there is my focus. First of all, we need to play Southampton.
“If we don’t get our heads and legs straight and our mentality right, we will not win in Southampton and then this tie is not alive.
“If things change, maybe, but how many clubs in worldwide football won with what we need, three goals difference? How often did this happen? Maybe it’s only realistic to answer like this.”
