Christian Pulisic’s goal gave Chelsea a slight advantage in their Champions League semi-final following a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid.
Pulisic gave the Blues the lead early on before Karim Benzema’s excellent volley cancelled out the American’s strike.
However, due to the away-goals rule Chelsea head into the second leg of the tie with a narrow advantage.
Thomas Tuchel bemoans a missed opportunity
Despite playing the second leg at home knowing that a goalless draw would be enough to secure a spot in the final of the Champions League, Thomas Tuchel felt his Chelsea side should have pressed home their dominance in the first half.
Tuchel said: ‘We started very well, we deserved to win the first half.
‘We had a lot of chances and half chances where we missed the precision in the last ball to score another goal.
‘Unfortunately they scored from a set-piece, we did not concede any chances really and there was nothing else really for us to defend.
‘So at half-time it was a bit of a disappointing scoreline because if we had a bit more composure and a bit more precision in front of the goal and we could have been the deserved winner of the match.
‘We have to live with the 1-1 result and now have to try and win the next game.’
Blues fly out of the blocks
Chelsea were dominant from the start and got the better of Los Blancos who attempted to match the Londoners’ formation.
In the ninth minute, Timo Werner had a glorious opportunity to score after latching onto a knockdown from Christian Pulisic but the former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois flung out his right leg to deny the striker from six yards out.
Yet, the Blues took the just four minutes later as Pulisic ran in behind and this time opted against laying the ball off for Werner, instead rounding Courtois before slotting into the net.
Chelsea seemed comfortable until the 22nd minute where Benzema fired a left-footed shot from 20 yards out against the post to warn the Blues of the 13-time European champions’ quality.
The warning strike was then followed up by an equaliser just five minutes later, as Benzema expertly controlled a flick-on from Eder Militao before volleying the ball into the net on the turn.
Tuchel’s men tire
The second half was far less open and chances were extremely limited.
Thomas Tuchel elected to field the same XI for the first time in his Chelsea reign and his side evidently fatigued as the match continued.
As a result, Real Madrid began to dominate the ball but they could not break through the defence of the Londoners – failing to record a shot on target other than their goal.
The highlight of the second half was the introduction of Eden Hazard for Los Blancos to play against his former club however, the Belgian failed to make a serious impact during his cameo.
The closest either side came to stealing a winner was in the 88th-minute when Raphael Varane’s header deflected off Ben Chilwell and bounced narrowly beyond the far post.
