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Thierry Henry and Micah Richards were baffled by Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella's performance during their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg clash against Real Madrid.
Los Blancos won the second leg at Stamford Bridge by a scoreline of 2-0, courtesy of a Rodrygo brace on Tuesday, April 18. Chelsea suffered a 2-0 loss in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu as well, meaning they exited the competition with a 4-0 aggregate loss.
Speaking about Cucurella's display during the recent game, former Manchester City defender Richards said (via HITC):
“You see Cucurella, where is he going? He went all the way (from his left-back spot in his own half) to press the Real Madrid centre-half, then Chalobah is left exposed here. Thierry, what should he be doing here?”
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry agreed with his fellow CBS Sports pundit. The Frenchman said:
“Well, delay. Don’t go. You are never winning that race. I don’t know why he is going there. That’s a double mistake. First, Cucurella, where are you going?! At that particular moment, you have to delay. You can’t dive in there.”
Cucurella joined Chelsea from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer. However, since his £62m move, the Spaniard has failed to provide any defensive stability to the team. He has often faced criticism for his performances and the recent clash against Real Madrid was yet another instance of the player's inability to adapt to life at Stamford Bridge.
"Football is all about taking your chances and we didn’t do that" - Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher after the defeat against Real Madrid
Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher was gutted after their recent defeat against Real Madrid. The 23-year-old claimed that his side played well and had the better chances.
Despite creating a few clear cut opportunities, the Blues failed to capitalize on them. Speaking after the match, Gallagher said (via the Blues' website):
"I feel like we played well, we had a lot of chances. I think we definitely had more and better chances than they did but football is all about taking your chances and we didn’t do that, which was disappointing. Of course, we’re going to be gutted, but we played some good stuff I think."
The Englishman added:
"The cutting edge in front of goal is basically what wins you games and we haven’t got that at the minute. It’s definitely a big improvement over our recent performances but you need to score goals to win games. They did that and we didn’t."
Chelsea will now shift their focus to the Premier League as they take on Brentford next in a home clash on April 26. The team are still looking for their first win under caretaker manager Frank Lampard.
