"He has no chance"- Rio Ferdinand singles out Chelsea star for 'very costly' mistake in Real Madrid defeat
Rio Ferdinand has said that Trevoh Chalobah made a 'very costly' error in Chelsea's 2-0 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg loss against Real Madrid on Tuesday (April 18).
The Blues were eliminated by Los Blancos 4-0 on aggregate. The West London giants were impressive in the first 60 minutes of the return leg at Stamford Bridge, creating several goalscoring chances.
They had ten shots (three on target) before Rodrygo scored Real Madrid's opener in the 58th minute. The Brazilian winger's strike just before the hour mark knocked the stuffing out of Frank Lampard's side.
Eder Militao played a lofted ball down the right flank to Rodrygo to kickstart a counterattack. Chalobah was tasked with negating the threat and had to make a split-second decision on whether to tackle or stay on his feet.
The 23-year-old Englishman chose the former and lunged in wildly, completely missing the ball and the player. Rodrygo had acres of space to attack and played the ball into Vinicius Junior's feet, who converted with a simple tap-in.
Dissecting Chalobah's mistake, Ferdinand told BT Sport (h/t Chelsea Chronicle):
"All he has to do here is stay on his feet and guide Rodrygo down that channel. He can delay him and wait for bodies to get back to help. He doesn’t do that. The decision he makes to lay down there, he has no chance. … you’re out the game.
He added:
"Trevoh Chalobah is a young defender who I really, really like. That is just a split decision that he gets wrong in the game that is very costly for this Chelsea team."
Rodrygo scored his second of the game in the 80th minute. Chalobah ended up playing the full 90 minutes, losing possession four times, winning 50% of his four attempted tackles and being dribbled past twice.
Thiago Silva makes UCL admission after Chelsea's defeat against Real Madrid
Thiago Silva has said that Chelsea's loss to Real Madrid could be his last appearance in the UEFA Champions League.
The Brazilian centre-back has played 105 times in the competition, doing so for AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. However, this season could have been the last time fans saw him play in the Champions League.
Silva told French outlet Canal+ (h/t Globo.com):
"The frustration is there. Maybe it was my last Champions League game. It is sad to end like this."
The 38-year-old's contract expires at the end of next season. The Blues are 11th with 39 points from 31 games in the Premier League and are set to miss out on the Champions League next season.