Thomas Tuchel appeared before the media after his team, Chelsea, fell 1-3 against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Disappointed by the result, the German coach was very clear: “The tie is not alive”.
On whether the tie is alive: “No, she’s not alive. Since the international break we haven’t found our rhythm. We have to get it back. We can’t think about the Bernabéu, we have to think about Saturday, because at this level we can’t think she’s alive. I’m more worried for Southampton for Real Madrid because that’s what we had before. How many teams in the world manage to come back from this? Get three goals? It’s not realistic”.
About your changes: “I changed the formation because we had to raise the level and so I thought we could hurt him, but we made a serious mistake after three minutes. I have no explanation because before the break we were on a good run and played at a high level. We have not changed anything , but we have conceded seven goals in two games. It’s alarming. The individual decisions have been far from our level after 1-2”.
The calendar: “I am surprised by the number of games we have played in 2022. We are the ones who have played the most together with Liverpool and we are the only ones who have not had five changes. The calendar is not our friend at this part of the season.”
Reece James: “It was my mistake to delay him in the second half”