Mateo Kovacic doesn’t need persuading that miracles can happen.
As a Real Madrid player during the 2015/16 season, the Croatian midfielder saw the Spanish giants overcome a shock 2-0 defeat to German side Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals to reach the last four. So as Chelsea prepare to overcome last week’s 3-1 first leg defeat to Real, Kovacic remains of the belief that they are facing Mission Difficult rather than Mission Impossible.
“There are many comebacks that inspire me,” he said. “I was involved in one, in the season 2015/16 when we were 2-0 down in Wolfsburg. We came back to the Bernabeu and the team won 3-0. There are many comebacks. There is also the game in 2012 with Chelsea against Napoli, they lost 3-1 at Napoli and came back at Stamford Bridge. Football is always surprising but we need to be ready to give 100 per cent to be able to do a comeback.”
Thomas Tuchel wasn't confident of his side's chances, either, adding: "Not the biggest chance given the first game's results and given the competition and the opponent and the stadium. We never manage our input by the chances we have for our result. It is unlikely but it is worth trying and trying means that we will play to our fullest and to our full limint. This is what it is, it is a big night."
On just five occasions in Champions League history has a team lost a home first leg to progress. Before 2018/19, only twice – Ajax's defeat of Panathinaikos in the 1995/96 semi-finals and Inter's win over Bayern in the 2010/11 round of 16 – had a side progressed after a home first-leg loss.
However, Ajax again (against Real Madrid) and Manchester United (against Paris Saint-Germain) both achieved the feat in the 2018/19 round of 16 before Tottenham (against Ajax) did likewise in the semi-finals. If current defending champions Chelsea are to join that small but prestigious club, they will have to get past a Real Madrid side who have won seven games in their last eight and were 2-0 winners over Getafe at the weekend.
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Up front Karim Benzema is enjoying an exceptional season with 42 goals in 44 matches for club and country. And in midfield Croatian midfielder Luca Modric - who turns 37 in September - continues to defy the odds with his inspirational displays. Kovacic continues to idolise his hero - even though he aiming to hurt his bid for a fifth Champions League winners medal.
“He is an amazing player,” he said. “Obviously, he is Croatian and I admired him when I was a child, he played for my favourite club Dinamo Zagreb. Now we have become good friends I admire him even more. Great person, great player and I am looking forward to playing against him again.
“He was always as good as he is now. In the last five, six, seven years he has been at the same level, which is amazing. The reason he is so good is because he loves football so much, he lives it every day, he is a professional and if he keeps going like this I can see him still playing for three or four more years at such a high level. It is nice to play against him, and difficult! We lost last week and it’s never nice when you are losing and you have a hard time. I always prefer to have him on my team but in this moment we are against each other and ready to show our best and try to go through.”
