Whichever way you paint yet another defeat, this was the end of an era for Chelsea.
They are out of the Champions League, it could be a very long time before they are back on European football’s biggest stage and you have to worry about the future of the club. In less than a year, Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has turned the club from serial winners into a laughing stock and a mess.
They did at least summon up a performance full of passion and effort and with better finishing they might just have upset 14 time winners Real Madrid. But it was a familiar story of missed chances and sloppiness in front of goal which was their undoing and they were ultimately punished by Real’s ruthlessness.
