“I hope I’m wrong” – Joe Cole fires warning to Chelsea about return leg against Real Madrid

Forum 2 years ago

“I hope I’m wrong” – Joe Cole fires warning to Chelsea about return leg against Real Madrid

Chelsea legend Joe Cole has fired a warning to his old club after their 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final last night.

Christian Pulisic’s goal gives the Blues the advantage going into the second leg due to the away goals rule, but Cole is worried that the west London giants may have missed an opportunity to truly finish Zinedine Zidane’ side off.

A 1-1 draw away from home has to go down as a good result, but Cole admits he just has some fears that Real Madrid might end up being stronger in the return leg at Stamford Bridge, meaning Chelsea could live to regret not getting another goal in Spain.

“They played very, very well. I thought they were the most physical team on the pitch,” Cole said on BT Sport, as quoted by the Metro.

“The only disappointing thing is not to put it to bed. I think early on when you had Real Madrid on the ropes and you could have got Callum Hudson-Odoi on or Reece James on a bit earlier to go at Marcelo… I think we’ve missed a little trick.

“I hope I’m wrong but I just think they won’t play as bad as that.

“And if [Sergio] Ramos is back for the second leg, they’ll go back to a back-four which they will be more comfortable with, Eden Hazard has another week of training. Does he come in and make an impact?

“So it was a good result, fantastic performance but it could have been better.”

Chelsea last reached the Champions League final when they won the competition in 2012, and Thomas Tuchel now looks in a good position to get them there again this season.

Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain meet in the other semi-final at the Parc des Princes this evening.