Speaking about Chelsea forward Timo Werner, boss Thomas Tuchel, after the first leg 1-1 draw in Real Madrid, said: "He missed a big one at West Ham and now he's missed a big one here. That does not help."
Wednesday 28 April 2021 11:22, UK
Thomas Tuchel was left frustrated with Chelsea's finishing in the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid, saying Timo Werner missing big chances does not help.
Chelsea grabbed a potentially vital away goal in the draw with Zinedine Zidane's side in the semi-final first-leg tie, however, they could have taken a lead to Stamford Bridge had they been more clinical with their chances in the first half.
Werner squandered the best of those openings with 10 minutes gone, failing to beat Thibaut Courtois from six yards out after the chance had been put on a plate for him by Christian Pulisic.
Werner had scored his first Premier League goal since mid-February against West Ham on Saturday in the 1-0 victory but did also miss with the goal gaping from a rebound.
Tuchel admitted Werner's inability not to take what he called "big chances" is becoming a frustration.
"He missed a big one at West Ham and now he's missed a big one here, that does not help," he said.
"But it doesn't help crying about it or regretting it all the time.
"There are millions of people who have harder things to deal with than chances that you miss. So the good thing about sport is that no one cares tomorrow, today we were sad and angry in the moment - this is normal. He is sad, he is angry and disappointed. Tomorrow he has a free day and the next day he must put his chin up. He's a top guy, a professional guy. He works hard. He's in the positions. He will not stop believing. Everyone accepts the situation like it is. With strikers, if you score the next game, nobody speaks."
He added: "I don't feel we are pointing fingers but of course the strikers want to score, to do it for themselves and the team. This is the highest level and when you have a good half an hour like we did with so many chances and half chances, then yes we'd wish for more composure and more precision in the decision making and finishing. The challenge was not to worry about that and to not regret too long. We did that in the second half by defending very well."
Chelsea took the lead after 13 minutes when Pulisic rounded Courtois to give Tuchel's side the perfect start.
Madrid looked an ageing side up against the bright and bubbly Chelsea attack but managed to fire their way back into the game when Karim Benzema levelled the scores in thumping fashion (29).
Tuchel was on the whole positive about the performance but was disappointed his team didn't hold onto their lead going into half-time.
He said to BT Sport: "We started the game very well, with a lot of courage and quality. We deserved to win the first half, we had chances. Unfortunately, they scored from a set-piece and they had nothing else, we didn't allow any chances.
"It was a disappointing score at half-time. We had to stay calm and not lose confidence. The second half was very tactical, you could feel that we are a bit tired. We only had a few days to recover from another tough away game. We have to live with 1-1.
"The goal was well deserved and we should have scored at least one more. We conceded more or less out of nothing and that can always happen against individual quality."
