THE SWEET Thomas Tuchel needed a lot of chocolate to watch a video of Chelsea’s horror show against Real Madrid, and he still felt bitter.
The Barça coach confessed that he leaned on pastries while he analyzed Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat in the Champions League at home.
But that didn’t stop him from experiencing the same anger he felt immediately after the match.
And he was still just as angry in a third guard Thursday morning at training camp, where he then had a very harsh meeting with his players.
The German said: “I watched the match again and got angry at home in the middle of the night.
“And the next morning I saw him again and I got angry again.
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“The amount of chocolate I needed was immense to get through the match again and make up!
“You sit there in the middle of the night, it’s not nice.
“You start writing and writing and you realize that you are writing more and more, more minutes with a certain way of explaining things so that you don’t forget.
“At some point you hit the double speed button to make it go by faster, and then you know you’re not in a good spot.
“At some point you have to stop and take a walk to the kitchen or the living room to calm down.
“It was not nice to see. I slept a little, it’s not the first bad game we’ve analyzed.
“But it helps to watch it, even if you don’t like it.”
Karim Benzema’s hat-trick at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday followed last weekend’s 4-1 humiliation against Brentford. Sending seven goals at home in the space of five days prompted Tuchel to spill some local truths to his team on Thursday afternoon.
The German described that meeting as “not a discussion meeting, it was more I gave my point of view. This is sometimes necessary.”
As frustrated as Tuchel may be with the alarming decline since the international break, this is not the first time this Blues side have had a meltdown.
In fact, the reason the former Paris Saint-Germain boss was named in the first place was because Chelsea’s form fell off a cliff under Frank Lampard during the festive period of 2020.
Tuchel feels that the bad habit is one of the reasons why they are behind Manchester City and Liverpool.
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He explained: “This is the gap I am talking about and what we need to close.
“It’s difficult because you compare yourself to perhaps the two best teams that have ever played in the Premier League in terms of consistency.
“When you compare yourself, you can get frustrated and maybe feel less strong than you really are.
“But on the other hand, there is something to close. It seems that these two teams do not happen to them as it can happen to us.
“The first point is to admit it. The second point is not to get frustrated about it and work on it with a daily process and take lessons from it.”
Tuchel’s difficult week could be further complicated today with a tricky trip to Southampton, who will be without the ineligible Armando Broja on loan from the Blues.
And Chelsea are just five points behind fifth-placed Arsenal, so they must get back on the horse or risk their Champions League qualification.
Tuchel remains “absolutely sure” of sealing a top-four spot, but cautioned that “it’s never a done deal.”
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And as for whether he’s still writing off his side’s chances in the second leg against Real Madrid, having had time to calm down, the Chelsea manager remained brutally realistic.
He said: “Of course, everything is possible, but this task is almost impossible.”
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