Tuchel urges Chelsea to leave 'everything on the pitch' in pursuit of miracle at Bernabeu

Thomas Tuchel has admitted that Chelsea need to “overperform” to do the “almost impossible” and overturn a 3-1 deficit against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

But he has vowed that if their defence of the Champions League crown ends in Spain on Tuesday, Chelsea will go down fighting.

Karim Benzema’s hat-trick in the first leg of their quarter-final at Stamford Bridge last week means Chelsea face an uphill task but Tuchel has urged them to show their true selves after he was disappointed with their first-leg display as he dreamed of a wonderful story.

Chelsea got a 1-1 draw away at Real in last season’s semi-final but Tuchel feels the task is both different and tougher now.

“It was at the training ground, at the youth stadium, and it is one of the biggest challenges to perform as an away team in the Bernabeu,” he said. “It is even more difficult if you need to win by a minimum of two goals, maybe with a three-goal difference. It makes it almost impossible but it is worth trying. We need to overperform.

“We do not have the biggest chance given the first game’s result and given the competition and the opponent and the stadium we play in but we never manage our effort and belief by the chances we have of a result.

"We never did and we will not start [now] by giving less because it is very unlikely we will make it. We need nothing else than a fantastic script if we are to overcome this but it is always allowed to dream.”

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, left, and Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge. PA

Tuchel hopes that if Chelsea do bow out, it is in the manner of champions. He told them to fight to the last, explaining: “By not accepting it before it ends and by leaving everything on the pitch and by showing