Tuchel chose to start Kai Havertz above the £97.5 million signing, thus Lukaku was once again on the bench in a crucial match. The former Inter Milan star had so far failed to live up to expectations, resulting in this position. The striker, on the other hand, could have turned his fortunes around with a key goal, but he squandered the opportunity.
The German coach showed his disappointment at the Belgian attacker missing the critical chance during the post-match news conference (h/t ESPN). The manager went on to say that because UEFA eliminated away goals, that may have been a pivotal moment for the
Thomas Tuchel on Romelu Lukaku's missed penalty in Real Madrid's Champions League loss. If he finished off the clear cut chance, the 28-year-old forward had a chance to change his fortunes at Stamford Bridge. As Cesar Azpilicueta's deflected cross came his way, he was alone near the six-year box, but his header went agonizingly wide of the bar.That was a wonderful opportunity to make it 2-3 in the tie, and we could have used the momentum created by that chance to drive for an equaliser. However, this was not the case, and we must now look forward to the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu to turn things around.Havertz, like Lukaku, had a similar first season with us, but the former had always been pivotal for us. Havertz's goal in the Champions League final against Manchester City capped off a difficult past season for him, and it acted as the catalyst for his slow climb at the Bridge. Lukaku could have done the same, and he had the opportunity to make a significant difference, but he did not.Using Lukaku as a scapegoat, though, would not help in any event, as he was far from the most serious issue of the evening. For a big portion of the game, the entire team was inept, which ultimately led to our defeat. Furthermore, the striker put up Hakim Ziyech with a good chance, which the latter missed.
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As a result, we have a hard uphill battle in the second leg against Los Blancos, which will be a difficult challenge given how good they are with Karim Benzema in their ranks. Let's hope Tuchel's team can turn things around in the rematch, which will be held in the Spanish capital.k.m.loss
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