Chelsea's loss against Brentford in the Premier League was a shock in one sense but also a blessing in disguise in another if this certain omen was to repeat itself again.
After Chelsea got obliterated at the hands of West Brom last term in the early parts of the second half, Chelsea lost focus, and the Bees pounced and hit four past an injured and off colour Edouard Mendy who could get nowhere near any of the strikes. A Vitally Janelt double coupled with a special goal from Christian Eriksen. A late scrappy strike from substitute Yoane Wissa compounded what a terrible day on and off the pitch for the current European and World Champions. They now have the chance to bounce back against Real Madrid midweek in the Champions League.
"We were working hard for the first goal, and we know how hard it is against Brentford. They defend high and man-mark or defend deep in a block around the box. So we have to remain patient," Tuchel said in his post-match Sky Sports interview. Once we had it, we stopped defending and game three goals way in ten minutes. It killed the game for us. I don't know why [we stopped defending]. We didn't defend mature enough, were not aware of the danger in these moments, which is strange for us.
"They made the most of these ten minutes, which is maybe not normal. But it's our fault. We may be felt a bit leggy, but after 20/25 minutes, we controlled the match and got better and better. In the second half, I was happy with the start, and we got the goal that we wanted to open up new spaces, but the opposite happened."
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All focus needs to swiftly move towards a tough clash against an indifferent Real Madrid side, as Tuchel also admitted that no eyes were on that game amid this re-start from the March international break. He reiterated: "No, absolutely not. We selected the team because we felt it was the best team against Brentford."
It may feel like a terrible day to be a Chelsea fan with how Tom Ricketts refused to back down in spite of fresh protests pre-match, and in conjunction with the result itself, the next week for the club is massive to try and keep the supporters' morale high during this time of uncertainty. The Blues have a great opportunity to respond to that with Los Blancos travelling to Stamford Bridge as Carlo Ancelotti will be encouraged with what he has witnessed upon the Premier League return.
However, the Blues can still take confidence from their last meeting against the European giants, and indeed, this loss in the west London derby return after the international break is a good omen. After Chelsea got obliterated at the hands of West Brom last term, they made sure it was a one-off as they went on to eventually win the Champions League courtesy of that special night in Porto last May.
"It seems like it. After so many wins and so many good results, I will now refuse to make a drama out of it. Why should we?" Tuchel said on the Baggies comparison to this result.
"Brentford made a lot of the ten minutes we gave them. After the third goal, we had a disallowed goal, a pressing situation against the goalkeeper, and another big chance from Kai Havertz. We missed all three of them and there was a feeling that it wasn't our day. So it's a mixture of everything
"They will certainly be hoping that obviously, in different circumstances this time around, they can repeat that feat again as Tuchel will demand this loss be moved on from in a swift manner, and a big clash against a Galactico of the game presents the perfect opportunity to repeat history. I would not rely on it being destiny or it happens. We will dig in and try to find out why it was like this. There are some reasons which we can put on us and we will analyse and digest it. There is no other It's hard to take because it's very unusual for us what happened today. Then we will refocus on Monday."
