KEY POINTS

  • An uninspired Chelsea side lost to Juventus in their Champions League matchup
  • Thomas Tuchel has a hard time explaining why his side performed the way they did
  • Juventus won the match, 1-0, after a ten-second blitz in the second half

An uninspired Chelsea side found themselves losing to Juventus, 1-0, in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, and club manager Thomas Tuchel was lost for words to describe the setback.

“I felt we were a bit slow and tired, mentally slow in our decision making. That's why it's a strange one to analyze," Tuchel said of his side's performance.

"We were so good yesterday in training, but not good enough, not free enough today. I don't know why, it was the whole team.”

The Blues that played against Juventus did not look like the monsters that the English Premier League had feared this season.

Chelsea played very sloppily throughout, only having one shot attempt on goal and a porous defense that was beaten repeatedly by the speedy attack of Juventus.

The Blues may have had possession of the ball for 73 percent of the match, but they barely did anything during that time.

They also racked up three yellow cards that showed their frustration with how the match was playing out.

Normally level-headed defender Marcos Alonso would be the first to be booked after a shove to the back of the head of Juan Cuadrado.

Antonio Rudiger and Hakim Ziyech were the other two to receive a yellow card after the referees deemed their tackles too physical.

As for Juventus, they would find the back of the net, and subsequent match-winner, thanks to a blitzing attack ten seconds into the second half.

After kicking off, Juventus midfielder Federico Bernardeschi threaded the ball over to a speeding Federico Chiesa for the strike, confusing the Chelsea defense.

"[It is] impossible at this kind of level to concede an easy goal like this in the first seconds of the second half," said the Chelsea boss to BT Sport.

“When you know what's coming and you have [a] defensive organization like we have, normally it's always possible to defend it. We got punished for it. We should have been much, much sharper.”

The loss to Juventus puts Chelsea in second place in Group H and will need a win against Swedish club Malmo FF on October 21 to give them some breathing room.

Chelsea and Tuchel will look to get right back on track as they welcome Southampton to Stamford Bridge on Saturday, October 2 for a Premier League fixture.

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