Thomas Tuchel rages at Chelsea players over 'alarming' slump since international break

Thomas Tuchel has conceded that Chelsea face a near-impossible task to get back into their Uefa Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid after suffering a dismal 3-1 defeat in the first leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick, comprising two masterful headers and a ruthless finish after Edouard Mendy's howler while Kai Havertz scored for the Blues, but Tuchel is not hopeful of turning around the contest and the German has been left baffled by his team's performances since the international break. Prior to the defeat to Real Madrid, Chelsea were thrashed 4-1 at home by Brentford in another uncharacteristically poor defensive display.

Asked if the tie was still winnable, Tuchel said: "No. Not at the moment, no. Because we have to find our level back, I don't know where it is since the international break.

"If things change, maybe, but how many clubs in worldwide football could do what we need, three goals difference? How often does this happen?"

Tuchel's blunt admission laid bare his anger at Chelsea's defensive miscues, wayward finishing and abject failure to match Real's energy.

The spluttering performance was completely unrecognisable from Chelsea's dynamic run to the Champions League title last season and, more recently, their six-game winning streak before the March international break.

Coming just five days after the humiliating defeat against Brentford in the Premier League – the first time they had lost to their west London neighbours since 1939 – the capitulation against Real was too much for Tuchel to take.

He barely had time to sit down for his post-match press conference before he let rip at his players.

"It was one of the worst first halves that I saw from us here at