PARIS: Chelsea feel their Champions League title defence is all but over. However, manager Thomas Tuchel believes it’s still worth trying.

Bayern Munich, though, are confident of their chances of making the semi-finals. Coach Julian Nagelsmann believes his side will deliver.

That probably has to do because of the deficits the duo face heading into the second legs of their quarter-final ties against opponents from Spain on Tuesday.

Holders Chelsea are 3-1 down from the first leg at home against 13-time champions Real Madrid while six-time champions Bayern lost 1-0 away at Villarreal.

German Tuchel is well aware of the challenge Chelsea face. Destabilised by the enforced sale of the club after the British government sanctioned owner Roman Abramovich for his close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine, he said on Monday his side needed to “overperform” in order to write a “fantastic script”.

Karim Benzema’s hat-trick at Stamford Bridge has put Real in firm control of the tie and Tuchel told reporters on the eve of the return leg in that Chelsea did not have the “biggest chance” to turn the tie around.

“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.

“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 than a fantastic script if we want to overcome this. The task is incredibly high and the challenge is incredibly high given the circumstances of the first leg and where we play and against whom we play and at what stage we play this kind of match.

“It’s always allowed to dream and it is sometimes important to imagine things and to dream about it but it will not shift the focus from the fact that we need to deliver and we need to be ready tomorrow.”

Real, though, are insistent that they won’t fall into the trap of believing their quarter-final is already wrapped up.

“Chelsea will come here to rescue the tie, I have no doubt about it,” Coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference on Monday when asked if Tuchel was playing mind games against his side.

“He can say whatever he wants but I’m sure Chelsea will come here to win, that’s the spirit of football, the spirit of big clubs and great players, to never give up.

“I’m lucky to have a group of players that know these types of games really well, that anything can happen. They are in a good spirit and happy with the opportunity to reach a Champions League semi-final. But Chelsea are a very strong rival. We have to have a lot of respect and we’re going to have it”

While Real put up an excellent show last week, Bayern had a bad first-leg performance with Villarreal the dominant side after also hitting the woodwork and missing several chances to score more goals.

“We played a bad game and they played their best game,” Nagelsmann told a virtual news conference on Monday. “This will not happen again, to play badly against the same opponent twice.”

“We delivered in the past and it should be like that tomorrow. We have to, we must, we want. It is normal when you win so many titles and have such success for so many years that you maybe need this pressure sometimes to get the maximum out.”

Villarreal last reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2006 and coach Unai Emery stressed his team remain the underdogs in Munich.

“Bayern are the favourites. It will be incredibly difficult and we have to try to find answers,” he told a news conference on Monday. “We must know how to respond.”

But while Emery said he was happy with his side making their presence felt in the Champions League, he added he is not satisfied with only reaching the quarter-finals.

“Getting here is fine, but I want to get through,” he said. “That’s why we are facing this match naturally, understanding that it will be at maximum difficulty but convinced that we belong here.”

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2022