A superb hat-trick from Karim Benzema, which is his second consecutive hat-trick in the Champions League this season- put Madrid in the driving seat ahead of the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Benzema put the home side behind with a brilliant header in the 21st minute before doubling his side’s lead with another superb header four minutes later.
However, Kai Havertz got Chelsea back in the game with a header of his own five minutes before the break.
A mix-up between Antonio Rudiger and Edouard Mendy caused Benzema to slot in for his third goal.
Chelsea’s coach Thomas Tuchel said his players’ performance is the reason for the team’s 3-1 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League encounter against Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge.
“It is a heavy loss,” Tuchel said after the game. It was one of the worst first halves that I saw from us here at Stamford Bridge.
“Individually and as a team, it was by far not enough. It was far from our standards, and then you lose games.
“Passing, where we passed, how we passed, when we passed, when we attacked, the ball possession game… first half was so from any standards that we set ourselves that we cannot complain when we lose.
“We had 16 shots in the second half. You can always come back and win it, but when you kill the game by yourself after 45 minutes, it is harder and harder.
The Blues will go to Madrid with the hope of scoring not less than two goals without conceding to send the match to extra-time.
But Tuchel, who also watched his side get hammered by Brentford in the Premier League last week, believes the Blues need to improve, starting with the game at St. Mary’s this weekend.
“No, we don’t have to go to Madrid. We have to go to Southampton, and it is very important to process this.
It is crucial that we go to Southampton. If we keep playing like this, we will lose at Southampton, and then we will get hammered at Bernabeu,” he added.
