Former midfielder Craig Burley has criticised ’s reaction to the Blues’ 3-1 defeat to in the on Wednesday night.
The reigning European champions were outclassed in the quarter-final first leg at Stamford Bridge, with a Karim Benzema hat-trick putting Los Blancos in control of the tie, although a goal from Kai Havertz has given Chelsea some hope ahead of next week’s return leg in Spain.
But after the game, Tuchel cut a dejected figure, describing the opening 45 minutes as ‘one of the worst first halves ever,’ and saying that his side had no chance of winning the tie.
This statement didn’t go down well with Burley, who told ESPN: ‘The manager has chucked the towel in.
‘He was asked in his press conference if Chelsea could come back in the second leg, and he said no. He sat in the corner of the room blubbering to himself.
‘It’s not exactly the message you want. I don’t think it’s completely dead and buried. I think it’s unlikely, but I don’t think it’s impossible.
‘Bearing in mind there’s no away goal rule anymore so those three goals aren’t worth as much as they were before, I certainly don’t think he should be sitting there with a two-goal deficit saying, “Is there a chance in the second leg? No.”
‘That’s just not a very good message to be sending out after a poor performance, after being outplayed.’
Chelsea faced Real Madrid in the Champions League last season at the semi-final stage, prevailing 2-0 on aggregate after a goalless first leg but turning last night’s result around will be far tougher.
Alongside the FA Cup, it is the Blues’ last chance to add to their silverware this season having already claimed the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, but Burley – who won the FA Cup during his eight year spell at Stamford Bridge – believes that they won’t turn their form around if Tuchel continues to degrade the team publicly.
‘They’ve thrown the towel in already in the domestic title race and you don’t want to really hear that from a manager,’ he added.
‘You want to hear something with a bit more fight and spirit something that you’re going to take to the Bernabeu. If we get an early goal, you never know you just never know.
‘I don’t like that from him in the press conference and he wasn’t misquoted he basically said we’re out of this tie and I don’t think that’s a very positive message to be sending out to be quite frank.’
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