Southampton offer ruthless Chelsea perfect platform to build Real Madrid rescue mission

Even Timo Werner scored.

Chelsea ripped through Southampton in an astonishing 6-0 victory in response to back-to-back defeats over the past week.

Werner grabbed a brace as Thomas Tuchel’s side ran riot, with Marcos Alonso, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz also boosting their confidence ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League rescue mission at Real Madrid.

After a thorough dressing down from Tuchel following Wednesday’s defeat to the Spanish side, the Blues squad arrived needing to put on a show - but even the German would not have been expecting this.

The visitors were without captain Cesar Azpilicueta following a positive Covid test while Romelu Lukaku was absent from the squad after failing a late fitness test.

Tuchel said this week that he knew things were going wrong against Madrid from the first minute, but there were no such worries here as Chelsea made a lightning start.

Werner struck a post after a counter attack after just three minutes, firing an early warning shot Southampton’s way.

With Azpilicueta out and Reece James named on the bench, Tuchel turned to Ruben Loftus-Cheek to fill in at right wing-back. The midfielder proved an instant hit in his new role and should have had an assist when crossing for Werner, who headed onto the bar from six yards out.

Southampton refused to learn their lesson from the let off, allowing Loftus-Cheek to move forward a minute later and lift a cross into the unmarked Mount, who collected the ball on his chest and flicked it over his shoulder into the path of Alonso.

The Spaniard finished low through the legs of Fraser Forster to settle any lingering nerves from a harrowing week.

From there, Chelsea were utterly ruthless, taking every ounce of frustration from the last week out on