Rio Ferdinand's grim pre-match prediction for Chelsea rang true as the Blues were thumped for the second time in five days after falling to a 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter final first-leg tie.
Karim Benzema netted a sensational hat-trick to leave the reigning European champions' hopes of retaining their crown hanging by a thread on a miserable night at Stamford Bridge. Kai Havertz netted to give the Londoners some hope of achieving the the improbable ahead of next week's seismic second leg showdown at the Bernabeu.
The chastening defeat capped a rotten week for Thomas Tuchel's side, who suffered a derby day drubbing in the Premier League against Brentford last Saturday. A second half collapse allowed the Bees to surge to a shock 4-1 win against their west London rivals.
And after predicting that the Blues could suffer a hangover after being "battered" by Brentford, Ferdinand was ultimately proven right. He told BT Sport before the match: "I don’t think it’s ever good to lose a game, I think you’d rather have some situations that arise in a game where you can go ‘oh, we can learn from that’ but still nick the three points.
"Here, they got battered. The big difference playing with a four at the back is the spaces when a centre-back pushes out. It’s a lot of space to cover. I don’t believe there will be that much space at the back tonight."
Benzema's all-star performance means that Chelsea need to conjure up a miracle in the Bernabeu next week if they are to stand any chance of retaining their European crown. And Tuchel could hardly hide his frustration after the match when he snapped at BT Sport's Des Kelly.
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The German coach didn't react well after being asked about his "downbeat" manner, retorting: "Well, what do you expect? To stand here and smile or what? Of course I am down.
"No, we don’t have to go to Madrid, we have to go to Southampton. I think this is very, very important we process this. It’s crucial we go to Southampton, and I will make sure everyone processes this because if we play like this, we will lose in Southampton and then we don’t need to think about the Bernabeu because we will get hammered in the Bernabeu."
And the Blues boss urged his side to "rediscover their level", insisting that the Londoners haven't been up to par since the international break. He added: "We have to find our level back. I don't know where it is since the international break. The first half is a repetition of the second half against Brentford in a quarter-final against Real Madrid. So far off our level in absolutely everything the game demands, we can't expect a result from this kind of performance."
