All I can say is that we rocked the bridge tonight, there can’t be any complaints about the atmosphere we created, and the difference on the pitch was Benzema being world class and taking most of his chances. Other than that, it was a great CL game where we made some defensive mistakes (again) and they took their chances.

No comment on lumpkaku needed, absolutely none.
.. Mendy gets a pass just on his previous achievements, but a few starting to manifest themselves 

At least Kai is looking really good these past couple of games. Encouraging for the future...

1 hour ago, Munkworth said:

Right, I did my part by make sure the atmosphere was f**king amazing (you’re all welcome by the way), now you bunch of layabouts need to step it up!

@Valerie you need to bump off a relative and make sure their funeral is on the match day. 
 

@axman2526 you need to go all soon and gloom, start slagging off some players. 
 

@coco make sure you completely f**k up the match day thread.

Lets start taking this serious guys, it’s like f**king amateur hour in here today!

Roger that!

27 minutes ago, RMH said:

Sorry mate, just got back from the Bridge. All I can say is that next time you should be even more defeatist!

By popular demand I will do my best 😉

 

First off credit to Madrid for their work ethic, the quality of Benzema (bar the one sitter missed) and taking advantage of some poor performances from us. At the top level winners do that, and they did.

However unlike Brentford we could have actually won this game and have only ourselves to blame that we did not.

Lot been said about Mendy on the third goal, rightly so. He should know he is poor with his feet and stop taking stupid risks. 

Not so much said on him on the first goal, which Tibo would have saved imo despite it being a cracking header, as it was right at him.

Not seen much on Rudiger, where was he on the first goal? The one Benzema missed? The token effort thar Benezema just pushed him off with ease on goal 3?

Why was AC not covering around on the second goal? Commentators mentioned Reals right back sleeping on Havertz goal, AC was asleep there.

Then there is the forwards. Mount and CP were not a threat in the slightest. Each of our subs made us worse but the cakes goes to both the pocketed Ziyech who managed to waste a sitter off target and Lukaku who header off target when free.

Even with Mendy being awful and a poor defence we should be going back 3-3 but missed 2 sitters.

Tie is done, we go there looking to at least go out respectfully.

22 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Tie is done, we go there looking to at least go out respectfully.

Now that's the doom & gloom ax we all love 😁

Disappointing result. Stupid mistakes in defence cost us and Benzema is one of the most clinical strikers in the world.

Still holding out hope that we turn it around in the second leg, but the chances are slim.

Many different reasons for this tough sleepless night in my opinion. Let's go step by step.

First of all, team selection wasn't good enough and that's entirely on Tuchel of course. It would be harsh to say he should've dropped Silva or Mendy because who could've thought they would be so terrible, but for example Azpi at LWB was a massive mistake. Alonso is proven in that system, you also have Saul who is left footed and yet you decide to go with Azpi? That usually means zero attacking threat down that flank but tonight it wasn't the best from him in the defensive duties either. Pulisic in the front three looked like Alice in Wonderland at times, with Ziyech in at half time we got much more dangerous. 

Bad decisions throughout the game could also raise some eyebrows. Switching to a back four was good because we solved our problems defensively, but other than that, the management was poor. Loftus-Cheek coming on for Jorginho says it all really. Also Werner staying on the bench with another sub available seems counter intuitive. Makes you wonder does he trust him anymore?

It's fair to say they were the better team. Scored three, could've got another one or two, keeping the ball so easily at times like it's a walk in the park. There was a period mid-second half when we couldn't get anywhere near the ball. Every single 50/50 duel was lost. We had 16 shots in the 2nd half. How many of them were real chances? One.

What to say about the Interista...I understand that maybe he wasn't anticipating that ball to come to him, as it bounced strangely, but you are a 100 million striker, left alone 5 meters from the goal with nobody around, and you manage to miss that. I bet Benzema wouldn't. First two goals were world class, not only the execution but his movement was textbook. Our defenders, especially Silva - nowhere to be seen.

Mendy's mistake was weird to say the least. If you asked anyone from the Chelsea under 8s, they would certainly know that you must not, under any circumstances, play a ball like that on a soaked pitch. Absolute basics of football. Most of our players looked uncomfortable on that pitch. 

Anyway, tough one to take, but we have to admit we were far below the required level for this stage of competition. The best thing we can do is to take it on the chin, and as Tuchel said, to focus completely on Southampton. After what we've seen tonight 1-3 is a bearable result and who knows what might happen in Madrid if we score first. Crazier things have happened. Keep the faith.

Edited April 7, 20224 yr by wizardous

Seems it's all pretty much been covered by previous posts.

Some out of character mistakes which a world class player like Benzema will 9/10 times score from, and so we paid the price.

However, as I am always the optimist, it's not impossible to see us getting 2 goals at the Bernabeu and taking this tie to extra time/penalties.

After all, it's not the first time we've had the odds stacked against us in this competition.

5 hours ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

Now that's the doom & gloom ax we all love 😁

 

Edited April 7, 20224 yr by erskblue

Mendy's mistake put us in such a difficult position for this tie. And I just felt so bad yesterday that I felt Mendy needs to be be punished for that error. If he sits on the bench, he might learn his lesson.

This tie at 2:1 would have helped us to have a chance going into the second leg.

Even if we lose games going forward, I prefer Kepa in goal for now just to show our displeasure to Mendy for a bad mistake. I think it was at the start of the second half, we just wanted to find a way to get back into the match. And if Mendy had not done that mistake, maybe we would have drawn that match or defeated Real Madrid.

Also, Thomas Tuchel's system for me is questionable. And you cannot blame me because I've been supporting Chelsea since I think 2005 now. That is seventeen years now. I'm sure there are many older fans than me in this forum but from the  many years I've been supporting Chelsea, I've seen different managers. I've seen Mourinho, I've seen Ancelloti, I've seen Conte, I've seen Sarri, I've seen Benitez.

So, I can tell if a manager's system is questionable. Our attack yesterday was toothless. And thats because Real Madrid had quality defenders who didn't give so much space to our attackers. And since our manager knew that will be the case, then he should have a better plan for our attack.

Also at left wing back, why didn't we play Sarr because of course we knew it was going to be a physical match and Alonso and Saul may not be able to play the match, then why not work on Sarr and get him ready for the match.

Then in midfield, I have always had something against Tuchel in that area. Against top opponents, can playing Jorginho in that Midfield really work? And if it will work, then we need a good box to box player playing with him. And Tuchel then decides to play Kante with him. We all know these days that Kante is getting older, especially since the match was going to be difficult. So we should have started Kovacic again the midfield.

So I am observing all these things about Tuchel and I want to know if after winning the champions league in one season, whether as a club, we don't want success again.

Ah.. it was disappointing because I believe we played better in the game, we had the control of the game, we created more chances and we had more domination in the game. I was so mad at the goals we conceded, so easy and especially when you play against Benzema you have to target him. 

First goal, easy break on Christensen and Jorginho cover on Benzema was so slow, actually he wasn't there. Second goal, lack of communication and Christensen was not there to cover. Third goal, a gift by Mendy.

To be honest, I can't complain on Tuchel. He has prepared us to the game, but the third goal clearly killed the game. All your ideas, motivation, energy were shut down. 

I expected more from the subs, all of them could play a part to make a comeback. Ziyech had a good chance, Lukaku had two good chances ( I expect him to finish them like Benzema scored ), Kovacic failed to make an impact, RLC killed too many attacks on this stage. 

We can score at Bernabeu, we have the quality and ability to do so, we showed it but my worry is can we keep a clean sheet to believe we can win the game there.

We conceded 7 goals in two home games, something is going wrong with Mendy and all our defense. We still have a long road in the league and have enough time to prepare ourselves to the second leg.

COME ON CHELS!!!!

The Thing With The Mendy Mess Up, Is It's Avoidable, If You Know Your Limitations On The Ball Then Don't Take Any Chance Just f**king Smash It

But When Are We Ever Going To Be A Team That Takes It's Chances, So Many Games We Create Loads Of Chances But Squander About 90% Of Them, While The Other Team Most Of The Time Score From Their Chance

 

 

3 hours ago, erskblue said:

 

This is what happens if you find yourself trapped in a corner with @Snedger and @axman at a party.

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 20224 yr by just

I don't believe we are out of this tie,Thomas needs to stop tinkering and needed to realise that we were being over run in the middle and changed it a lot earlier,we definitely need to score first but not go gun ho.

The difference last night was Benzema. Elite striker who took his chances when they cane to him. 

10 hours ago, RMH said:

All I can say is that we rocked the bridge tonight, there can’t be any complaints about the atmosphere we created, and the difference on the pitch was Benzema being world class and taking most of his chances. Other than that, it was a great CL game where we made some defensive mistakes (again) and they took their chances.

Spot on , great atmosphere, and I thought we played OK, brain fart from Mendy has put the tie beyond us.

They took their chances, we didn't. Kai never gave up.

Must win at Southampton to get us back on track, see you all there.

Up the Chels 

It is much easier losing to a side that has won everything, has the world's best player in their roster (most lethal at least) than to a midtable fodder.

They schooled us and we looked naive. They made us look so bad at times. We had the chances to score but the last 15 mins they basically just stopped shop which will happen in Madrid as well. 

Our best chance is to stay compact, get penalties and trust the most lethal players we have; Havertz and Ziyech. 

36 minutes ago, enigma said:

The difference last night was Benzema. Elite striker who took his chances when they cane to him. 

No, the difference yesterday was the naivety of our defense.

If Real had scored one more, we could have sung “are you Brentford in disguise?”

As much as it hurts me to say this, I love a good header goal, and Benzema treated me to two exquisite header goals yesterday. Too bad Lukaku could not have done the same thing at least once.

1 hour ago, hephzibah said:

No, the difference yesterday was the naivety of our defense.

Defending as a team more than defenders per say. It all started from highly ineffective gegenpress, the whole side was stretched and our 3 centerbacks + 2 wingbacks just had to flat out run 1 v 1 many times in the game without support. As soon as Modric and Casemiro saw that they had a field day.

Brother & I had a great night out seeing old friends, Atlas before and being in The Shed Upper the atmosphere was superb. Shame about conceding the 3rd as it’s a real challenge now for next Tuesday but that’s what Chelsea excels at in the CL so Keep The Faith everyone! 

Chelsea vs Napoli 2012 all over again!

Can we get hold of this guy again for the second leg?