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Thomas Tuchel: "Very proud" of his team
Photo: Sergio Perez/EPA
Thomas Tuchel and Real Madrid had a history.
In December 2016, the German made his debut with Borussia Dortmund at the Santiago Bernabéu football temple.
The result was a highly entertaining 2:2, before and after the rising star coach dominated the reporting.
At Real, he established himself high up on the always open list of candidates.
Impression of many observers: This man has certainly not coached for the last time at the Bernabéu.
After another visit with Paris Saint-Germain (group phase 2019, also 2: 2) and one with Chelsea in the alternative stadium on the training campus last season (1: 1), Tuchel's final exam took place in the Bernabéu on Tuesday.
A knockout game as the defending champions, with a surprising first-leg deficit.
Expectations were high for someone who is now a well-established star coach.
And even if Chelsea ultimately failed due to the intangible elements of European nights: Tuchel again made many fans in Madrid.
The newspaper ABC, and with it the entire Spanish press, praised him as an "excellent screenwriter".
Even as he declared the quarter-finals lost after the 1:3 in the first leg: olé!
How he continued to mourn in the following media appearances, how he talked about mountains of chocolate that he would have needed to study the first leg video with frustration: that was widely presented as the art of a coach who also understands the game in the press room.
Tuchel showed that he knew exactly where he was going and additionally weighed the notoriously flippant Real in safety.
Complete football
And then there was, of course, the main part: his match plan.
Chelsea played tactically close to perfection.
Physically, as required by the coach, with intense pressing, yes.
But also patient with the ball. The scenery was taken over with long relay passes and Real's defense was pulled apart. Such an attack gave the lead early on, which brought progress back within reach.
A lot of structure, optimal occupation of the space, mobility of the strikers, moving midfielders and even defenders like the omnipresent Antonio Rüdiger.
It was very complete, flexible football that could not be attributed to any specific school: vintage Tuchel.
The trainer was later "very proud" of his pros, because they had done what is important to him, which he often talks about: they "felt" the game and were absorbed in their performance.
That was no less true for him when he had a tactics board put up in extra time to provide new impetus.
Or when he was still pacing the pitch after the final whistle.
What to do with the adrenaline?
Tuchel congratulated the opponents, waving his hand at substitute Saúl, who had screwed up Chelsea's last orderly attack with a wrong cross.
And had to say a bar or two to the referee.
"That's how it is in the Champions League against Real Madrid"
Two things in particular bothered him about Szymon Marciniak: that he denied Marcos Alonso's supposed 0: 3 on the instructions of the video referee without checking it himself.
As well as the very familiar laughter with Real coach Carlo Ancelotti after the final whistle.
But Tuchel knows that he can't expect any help at the Bernabéu, he's seen enough of that over the years.
"I should be careful what I say," he explained later, just this much: "That's how it is in the Champions League against Real Madrid."
For the German, after a turbulent season, it's all about the FA Cup.
In the summer he will be at Chelsea for a year and a half.
That's pretty much the normal cycle of a manager at the club during the defunct reign of oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Whether it was José Mourinho, Ancelotti or Antonio Conte, it mostly went according to the same pattern: first big titles, then soon only smaller ones and not too much later the separation.
What will happen in the new era, what plan are the club's buyers who have not yet been selected pursuing?
More continuity like the national competition from Liverpool with Jürgen Klopp or Manchester City with Guardiola?
Or a completely new project?
You don't know it all yet.
In any case, investments like the around 115 million euros in Romelu Lukaku last summer could be a thing of the past if more attention is paid to the balance sheets than under the Russian patron.
In the specific case, however, that would have protected those involved from themselves: the flop with his Belgian striker of choice, which Tuchel then did not profitably integrate into his system, is probably the biggest flaw of his tenure.
Tuchel's work remains colossal
Otherwise there is little objection.
Even if the announced attack on the championship didn't materialize this season - when Tuchel took over the team in January 2021, it was in the middle of the table and didn't exactly look like an upcoming Champions League winner.
His work remains colossal so far.
In Madrid, the dethroned defending champion walked with his head held high – but not without symbolism.
Before Real's 1: 3, the outstanding N'Golo Kanté of all things blundered and the last chance for a penalty shoot-out was missed by Kai Havertz, the goal scorer in the final in May.
The end of just a famous ride through Europe?
Or a whole era?
The contracts of captain César Azpilicueta, vice Jorginho and deputies Kanté and Thiago Silva all expire in the summer of 2023.
Those of Andreas Christensen (probably from Barcelona) and Rüdiger (still unknown) already.
The German central defender is also talked about at Real Madrid from time to time;
his strong game at the Bernabéu came at the ideal time.
The fact that there is a lot to improve at Real is not only related to the squad.
As much as they wallow in their crazy nights - they would also like to have a coach in the club who wins big games conventionally, with a game philosophy, a match plan, things like that.
Especially since the embarrassing 0:4 against Barcelona a month ago, Ancelotti is not as firmly in the saddle as one might think given the clear lead in the league and the skills of survival in the Champions League.
But another participant in the epic Tuesday night should once again be very high on the wish list: Thomas Tuchel.