Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has refused to blame their 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid on the uncertainty surrounding the takeover of the club.
Karim Benzema’s hattrick saw the Blues fall to defeat and Tuchel’s men will have to pull off an impressive comeback in Madrid to qualify for the next round of the tournament.
Speaking to the press after the match, via football.london, Tuchel refused to blame the loss on the uncertainty surrounding the Chelsea takeover.
“You ask about the circumstances and the change of ownership, I see no difference between the last weeks and the last weeks we performed,” he said. “I do not accept it as an excuse because of the same reasons that I said before. It is the moment now to find an end to this period of conceding goals and losing games very quickly because we are in an absolutely crucial time of the season.”
The German instead believes the drop in performances is due to the sheer number of matches his Chelsea side have played this season.
He continued: “I was a bit shocked when I saw the number of games we played in 2022. I saw it in the last days, we were the team with Liverpool who have played by far the most matches in England and Europe. Don’t forget everybody else’s life changes. We had three extra-times on top of it. So yes, it is a bit worrying.
“The schedule is not our friend this season and we’ve struggled from it. But we can still play better because I think we found in the first half we could exploit these positions better. We can play much better. We can hurt Real Madrid much more, but we were far off our level and that is very disappointing because it is a night when you need to be spot on.”
The April 11 deadline is fast approaching for bidders to submit their final bids for Chelsea, with a takeover hopeful of being completed by the end of the month