Three things Chelsea must do to in order to beat Real Madrid

2. Limit mistakes

As I alluded to in the last slide, the Blues made a ton of mistakes in defense in the first leg. There are plenty of excuses to be made—be it different defensive personnel or the torrential downpour in west London—but none of them justify the woeful performance put on by Tuchel’s side. Not much needs to be said on Edouard Mendy’s blunder as he knew in the moment that he royally screwed up. The Senegalese shot-stopper won’t make the same twice and he’ll even think twice about playing any ball from out of the back going forward.

Credit does go out to Real Madrid though. If Los Blancos hadn’t pressed with such discipline and attacked with aggression, it’s likely Chelsea would have been comfortable enough to see out a draw or even potentially a win. Ancelotti deserves plaudits for his tactical approach and set-up in the first leg—even though the home side’s laughable errors were the talking points—because it’s these aggressive moments that forced the errors in the first place.

If the Blues want to have any chance at a comeback they will have to limit the mistakes, if not cut them out completely. This doesn’t just apply to the series of unfortunate events at the back either. Chelsea surprisingly out-performed its Spanish counterpart in terms of xG at Stamford Bridge, it just failed to capitalize on the great looks it got on goal. Romelu Lukaku will be out for the clash, which means that Havertz, Mason Mount and a player to be named later will need to make the most of their chances in front of goal.

All in all, the Blues will need to have a near-flawless performance in front of a full house at the Santiago Bernabeu if they want the slightest chance of keeping their title defense alive. The mistakes that were ever-present in the first leg will need to be completely eliminated. Luckily, last year’s charge toward the European crown showed spectators that showings of this nature are possible from Tuchel-led Chelsea sides.