Tuchel proud of 'special' Chelsea after falling just short in epic clash at Real Madrid

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said he was "very proud" after watching his players push to the "full limit" in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final aggregate defeat to Real Madrid.

The defending European champions, needing to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit, were 15 minutes away from completing a remarkable comeback after Timo Werner's fine solo goal gave them a 3-0 lead on the night, following earlier goals from Mason Mount and Antonio Rudiger.

However, Rodrygo levelled the tie with 10 minutes remaining before Karim Benzema struck in extra time to give Real Madrid a 5-4 aggregate victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

After last week's first leg, Tuchel conceded that Chelsea faced a near "impossible" task in their attempt to turn the tie around but the German was full of praise for his players after narrowly missing out on the semi-finals.

"We went to the full limit today. I'm very proud of my players and I think we deserved to qualify but luck was not on our side," Tuchel said. "We were unlucky. That is why we are disappointed. We got beaten by individual quality and finishing. We made two mistakes, two ball losses. We deserved to go through after this match today. It was not meant to be.

"There are no regrets. These are the kinds of defeats you can take with pride as a sportsman. We were very disciplined on the ball and very active and invested off the ball. We showed courage and from there we showed our quality. This is the right way to do it. If we have this kind of effort, we are a special team."

After successive damaging defeats to Brentford in the Premier League and Real Madrid last week, Chelsea have responded with an emphatic 6-0 win over Southampton and Tuesday's victory at the Bernabeu, and Tuchel believes the