Tuchel says defeat to Real Madrid was a tactical mistake

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has reacted to his side’s defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday night in the UCL.

Recall that the Blues were thrashed three goals right at Stamford Bridge, with Karim Benzema scoring all three goals.

The Blues manager, in a post-match statement, said the defeat to Madrid was a tactical ‘mistake’ on his side.

He said he allowed Andreas Christensen to be exposed by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior.

Chelsea were able to get grips with Vinicius on Real Madrid’s left flank, and Kai Havertz managed to pull a goal back.

Tuchel replaced Christensen and N’Golo Kante at halftime following a poor performance by the duo.

A mix-up between Edouard Mendy and Antonio Rudiger shortly after the second half then led to Benzema’s third goal of the night.

Tuchel, in his post-match press conference, was asked about the decision to play Christensen against Vinicius in the first half before instructing Reece James to play deeper in the second half; the German coach said, “Yeah, it’s my mistake.

“We changed the formation and wanted to turn things around because I think personally there was enough where we could hurt them.”