The German tactician watched on as his team suffered a massive blow in their quest to retain the Champions League. Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel says his players’ performance is the reason for the team’s 3-1 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League encounter against Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were the slight favorites going into the game, having beaten the same side in the semifinals on their way to winning the competition last season.
However, a superb hat-trick from Karim Benzema- his second consecutive hat-trick in the Champions this season- put Madrid in the driving seat ahead of the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Benzema put the away side ahead with a brilliant header in the 21st minute before doubling his side’s lead with another superb header four minutes later.
Kai Havertz got Chelsea back in the game with a header of his own five minutes before the break.
However, a mix-up between Antonio Rudiger and Edouard Mendy allowed Benzema to slot in for his third.
The results put Chelsea in a precarious position, and Tuchel has blamed his players for their role in the defeat.
The former Borussia Dortmund manager revealed his players’ performance was not up to the standard they had set this season.
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“It is a heavy loss,” Tuchel said after the game. It was one of the worst first halves that I saw from us here at Stamford Bridge.
“Individually and as a team, it was by far not enough. It was far from our standards, and when you lose games.
“Passing, where we passed, how we passed, when we passed, when we attacked, the ball possession game… first half was so from any standards that we set ourselves that we cannot complain when we lose.
“We had 16 shots in the second half. You can always come back and win it, but when you kill the game by yourself after 45 minutes, it is harder and harder.
Chelsea will go to Madrid with the hope of scoring at least two goals without conceding to send the match to extra-time.
But Tuchel, who also watched his side get hammered by Brentford in the Premier League last week, believes the Blues need to improve, starting with the game at St. Mary’s this weekend.
“No, we don’t have to go to Madrid. We have to go to Southampton, and it is very important to process this.
It is crucial that we go to Southampton. If we keep playing like this, we will lose at Southampton, and then we will get hammered at Bernabeu,” he added.
