Steven GRIFFITHS
Thomas Tuchel turned on Chelsea’s players as the Blues boss let his frustration pour out after their dismal 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Tuchel’s side are facing the end of their reign as Champions League holders following a bitter night at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Karim Benzema’s hat-trick, comprising two masterful headers and a ruthless finish after Edouard Mendy’s howler, left Tuchel conceding Chelsea have no chance of progressing to the semi-finals.
Asked if the tie was still winnable, Tuchel replied: “No. Not at the moment, no.
“Because we have to find our level back, I don’t know where it is since the international break.
“If things change, maybe, but how many clubs in worldwide football could do what we need, three goals difference? How often does this happen?”
Tuchel’s blunt admission laid bare his anger at Chelsea’s defensive miscues, wayward finishing and abject failure to match Real’s energy.
The spluttering performance was completely unrecognisable from Chelsea’s dynamic run to the Champions League title last season and, more recently, their six-game winning streak before the March international break.
Coming just five days after a humiliating 4-1 home defeat against Brentford in the Premier League — the first time they had lost to their west London neighbours since 1939 — the capitulation against Real was too much for Tuchel to take.
He barely had time to sit down for his post-match press conference before he let rip at his players.
“It was one of the worst first halves that I saw from us here at Stamford Bridge. It’s very disappointing,” he said. AFP
