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Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel wanted to quickly tick off the second big chance his striker Timo Werner had missed within a few days.

"The good thing about sport is that no one will be interested tomorrow," said Tuchel after the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at Real Madrid on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old showed a somewhat pained smile.

The feeling remained that there would have been more possible for his Blues in Madrid than this respectable 1: 1 - if Werner had used his early scoring chance.

"He is sad, angry and disappointed," said his coach.

“But it doesn't help to moan or mourn all the time.

There are millions of people who have to endure worse things than missed opportunities. ”The second leg at Stamford Bridge next week will tell whether the Londoners will miss the lost goal.

"Lost self-confidence"

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Even before Christian Pulisic met Alfredo Di Stéfano for the lead for the furious blues on Tuesday after a quarter of an hour at the Estadio, Werner failed in the penalty area against Real goalkeeper and former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois.

It was a similar story for the German international in the Premier League on Saturday.

"He missed a big chance against West Ham and missed another big chance here," complained Tuchel, "that's not helpful."

British media took Werner hard.

"If you pay 47.5 million pounds for a striker, you can expect that he will not be intimidated by your ex-goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation from close range," etched the Telegraph.

The "Mirror" found: "It was the attempt of a striker who lost his conviction, his self-confidence in front of the goal."

Timo Werner (left) in a duel with Reals Raphael Varane

Source: AFP

Although Werner had scored the goal for a 1-0 win at West Ham, his sixth in the Premier League, overall the ex-Leipzig man has so far been far too little in his first Chelsea season.

That is also what Tuchel thinks, who took the 25-year-old off the pitch after a good hour.

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"I don't have the feeling that we're blaming us, because of course the strikers want to score, for themselves and for the team," said the Chelsea coach, taking his protégé to duty: "If you spend half an hour with so many Chances and half-chances as we have, yes, then we would like more composure and precision in decision-making and in the conclusion. "

Benzema on target

A stroke of genius by Real's star striker Karim Benzema (29th minute) after a corner ensured that it was completely open before the second leg on Tuesday who would make it to the final.

Only Chelsea FC could be disappointed about that, having played a strong game against weak “royals” and was superior at times.

The Spanish newspaper “Marca” spoke of an “unstoppable hurricane”.

In the rain of Madrid: Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel

Source: REUTERS

When looking for something positive in Real's disappointing performance, everyone in Spain agreed: “Madrid survived”.

This was what the audibly relieved commentator on Spanish television said after the final whistle, and this was also the headline of the newspaper “El País” on Wednesday.

Coach Zinedine Zidane hit the same note: “We're still alive.” After the goal to make it 1-1, the Frenchman said they “got a lot better”.

In addition: Kroos & Co. were able to extend their series to 18 games without defeat.

But the optimism for the second leg in London is limited. Not only the flattering result is worrying - after a 1-1 at home in a semi-final first leg of the premier class, the “royal” have never made it into the final in three attempts.