Chelsea are preparing for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League showdown with Real Madrid, with the Premier League giants needing an inspired performance and a huge victory to overturn the aggregate score line in this quarterfinal tie.
Despite being the defending champions, the Blues have a mountain to climb if they wish to make the semifinals, having suffered a horrible defeat at home in the first leg. An inspired performance from Karim Benzema saw the French striker bag a hat-trick and condemn the London outfit to an unfortunate 3-1 defeat.
Speaking immediately after the final whistle, an emotional and frustrated Thomas Tuchel admitted that it would be nearly impossible to overturn this deficit at Santiago Bernabeu, saying that the tie was "not alive" despite there being a second leg.
However, having since returned to winning ways, thrashing Southampton 6-0 over the weekend, does the German boss hold a similar view or has he had a change in heart? The former PSG boss opened up about this issue during his pre-match press conference for Tuesday's game, echoing his previous sentiment: a comeback is unlikely.
There was a hint of optimism in Tuchel's language this time around, though, with the Stamford Bridge gaffer confessing that in football, anything is possible.
"It is unlikely but it is worth trying, and trying means that we will play to our fullest and to our full limit. This is what it is, it is a big night," he said, as per the Daily Mail.
"It is one of the biggest challenges to perform as the away team at the Bernabeu, especially if you need a result. It is still worth trying and it is still a stage where you can overperform. We need to overperform."
"We need nothing else other than a fantastic script. The task and challenge is incredibly hard and against who we play and where we play," Thomas went on to add.
"We're allowed to dream, it's sometimes important to imagine things and dream about. It will not shift the focus, we will support our team and we will try hard.
"It's sports and it's a game and that's the beauty of the game, that everything is possible always."
Unfortunately, in their most important game of the season, Chelsea will be without a few key players. Ben Chilwell is a long-term absentee but Callum Hudson-Odoi and Romelu Lukaku also look set to miss the second leg. While neither the Englishman nor the Belgian are currently starters, both men could have offered something from the bench if need be.
