Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has encouraged his side to take inspiration from their Champions League comeback against Napoli ahead of their quarter-final clash against Real Madrid.
The Blues travel to the Spanish capital 3-1 down on aggregate after the first leg, with striker Karim Benzema scoring a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.
It means the reigning European Champions will have a huge task on their hands should they wish to continue the defence of their title.
“Many comebacks. I was included in one! 2015/16, we lost the game 2-0 in Wolfsburg and came to the Bernabeu and won 3-0. There are many comebacks. Chelsea against Napoli. 3-1 at Napoli and at Stamford Bridge we came back.” Kovacic said ahead of Madrid’s second leg.
When they called us the underdogs, we played like CHAMPIONS💙@ChelseaFC @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/bl8fTQgLmk
— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) May 29, 2021
We often hear pundits speak highly of Manchester United or Barcelona DNA, now it is time to talk about Chelsea’s. It is in Chelsea’s DNA to come back from a challenge like this.
You can say that there are several differences between today’s Chelsea team and the one in 2012.
However, this is the same team that came out as European Champions last season, despite going into many matches as underdog.
The main catalyst of driving a comeback is mentality of the players. The mentality to prove to themselves that they are capable of a comeback as opposed to accepting. defeat and Chelsea have a manager who has the mentality that is needed to lead them to a victory at Santiago Bernabeu.
When asked, ‘If this is where the title defence ends, how do Champions end it?’ Thomas Tuchel replied:
“By not accepting it before it ends. By not accepting it and by leaving everything on the pitch that we have and by showing we can work harder, play better, that we know we can take more risks and that we show our true face and live up to our full potential. That’s what we should do first.”
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