Despite Tuchel’s gloomy pessimism, the Blues boss still has a plan for Chelsea to pull off a miracle

Mateo Kovacic name-dropped Napoli by way of inspiration and minds drifted back to Chelsea’s greatest European comeback.

It was a decade ago and the Blues were in turmoil, with star players revolting to end the tenure of Andre Villas-Boas between the tie’s two legs before they summoned a heroic performance to overturn a 3-1 deficit.

Branislav Ivanovic scored the winner in extra time at Stamford Bridge and they went on to win the trophy for the first time on a heady night in Munich under the interim leadership of Roberto Di Matteo.

Thomas Tuchel was left unimpressed by last week’s defeat to Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge

‘There are many comebacks, football is always surprising,’ nodded Kovacic. 

However, he is under no illusions about a task dubbed by Thomas Tuchel yesterday as an ‘almost impossible’ dream. 

Chelsea completed their epic recovery against Napoli on home turf and that’s where most of the classic comebacks occur, where the swing of momentum can be amplified by a raucous crowd causing the stands to shake and opponents to crumble.

Think Liverpool against Barcelona in 2019. Think Roma against Barcelona in 2018. Think Barcelona against Paris Saint-Germain, La Remontada, in 2017. Thrillingly unpredictable ties, all in the last five years.

Chelsea will be without out-of-form striker Romelu Lukaku who has an Achilles injury

Chelsea, however, have to win big at the home of Real Madrid, the most successful team in the history of this competition, champions on 13 occasions and going nicely at the top of Spain’s La Liga under Carlo Ancelotti.

‘It is one of the biggest challenges to perform as the away team at the Bernabeu,’ said Tuchel as he prepared to fly to Spain with a squad missing Romelu Lukaku, who was ruled out by soreness in his achilles.

‘Even more difficult if you have to earn a certain result. If you need to win by a minimum of two goals, or even a three-goal difference, it makes it almost impossible.’

The doubting Thomas routine began as soon as the first leg ended, when Chelsea’s coach was smarting from the brilliant hat-trick scored by Karim Benzema, the chance squandered by Lukaku and the reality of a 3-1 loss.

Thomas Tuchel will be encouraged by the clinical nature of his side’s performance at Soton

He quickly declared the tie to be dead, a conclusion based mainly on his team’s terrible form upon their return from the international break. Brentford scored four at the Bridge four days before Real scored three. And his language has changed only slightly since a therapeutic 6-0 victory at Southampton on Saturday.

‘Not the biggest chance,’ was Tuchel’s assessment on the eve of the second leg. ‘The task is incredibly high given the circumstances of the first leg plus where and against whom we play this match.’

Last season, on the way to winning the competition for the second time, his side outplayed Real in Madrid in the semi-final.

Mateo Kovacic cited one of Chelsea’s great European nights when speaking ahead of the Real Madrid second leg tie on Tuesday

They won 2-0 in London after a 1-1 draw in Spain’s capital, where they played behind closed doors at the small stadium in the Valdebebas training centre due to Covid restrictions and the renovation work at the Bernabeu.

‘Can it be more different?’ shrugged Tuchel, citing another factor against any comeback as if every cause for optimism must have its gloomy counter-point.

Talk of generating more ‘physicality’ in an attempt to neutralise influential veterans such as Benzema, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos was met with a reminder of Chelsea’s gruelling schedule.

They have played 22 times in 2022 compared to Real’s 20, often engaged in more intense competition against stronger teams and, something he never fails to mention, with only three substitutions available in the Premier League.

Chelsea beat Napoli in 2012 on their way to the Champions League title in 2012

Still, sporting miracles do happen. Even sometimes in the Bernabeu, where Ajax overturned a 2-1 deficit to win 5-3 on aggregate in the last 16 in 2019 before falling victim to a thrilling fightback by Tottenham in the semi-finals in Amsterdam.

Tuchel (right) knows the scripts can twist because one twisted against him when he was at PSG and they won 2-0 at Old Trafford only to lose 3-1 in Paris and crash out on the now-discarded away-goals rule.

And, for all his public doom-mongering, he will go to Madrid with a plan, and will demand his players commit to its execution while hoping for a slice of good fortune, perhaps a big decision in Chelsea’s favour or an early goal to inspire belief.

‘It’s always allowed to dream,’ said Tuchel. ‘It’s important to imagine things and dream about it but it will not shift the focus from the fact that we need to deliver.

‘We will support our team and try hard. It is worth trying in sports. It is a beauty of the game that everything is possible always.

‘So we will try everything and from there, we see. Hopefully, we have a match where belief grows by our actions.

‘Hopefully we can fulfil our dream, but realistically we have to invest a lot and be at our very top level.’