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Football London
Football London
Sport
Scott Trotter

Thomas Tuchel's first words that sum up Chelsea's Champions League defeat to Real Madrid

Thomas Tuchel believes that his side deserved to qualify for the Champions League semi-final and were unlucky not to overcome Real Madrid. Chelsea's stars littered the Bernabeu pitch in exhaustion and disappointment after Karim Benzema's goal sent Los Blancos through to the penultimate round of the tournament.

The Blues saw themselves 3-0 up in the tie thanks to goals from Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger and Mason Mount, and on the verge of going through. Luka Modric's brilliant ball to Rodrygo saw the home side get back into the tie, forcing extra time.

Karim Benzema once again showed the Blues his class as he scored the game's final goal to send Carlo Ancelotti's side through. Tuchel was quick to acknowledge the quality of those two goals.

READ MORE: Why Antonio Rudiger screamed at N'Golo Kante as Karim Benzema breaks Chelsea hearts vs Real Madrid

The Chelsea boss said: "We were unlucky. That is why we are disappointed. We got beaten by individual quality and conversion. We made two mistakes, two ball losses. We deserved to go through after this match today. It was not meant to be."

The Blues put in a valiant display, having dominated large parts of the game in a massive turnaround from the first leg that was played at Stamford Bridge. Tuchel was still left to rue some mistakes when they allowed the Ancelotti's men back into the game but could not help but have pride in his team.

Tuchel added: "We have to reduce our amount of mistakes, and we could not reduce them to a minimum over the two legs. We had two crucial ball losses.

"There are no regrets. These are the kind of defeat you can take with pride as a sportsman."

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