Chelsea's bid to repeat as UEFA Champions League winners came to an end in the quarterfinal stage, as it was eliminated by Real Madrid. While Chelsea mustered up a second leg comeback following its 3-1 defeat in the first leg, Los Blancos got the last laugh in the end with a 5-4 aggregate win.

Chelsea’s 3-2 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg was quite bittersweet, as while the Blues secured a convincing win against the La Liga powerhouse, it was not enough to push them to the next round of the competition.

Speaking during a pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup semifinal encounter with Crystal Palace, Tuchel was asked about the Champions League exit. While he was pleased to see the fight from his team in the return leg, the elimination from the competition is still a “disappointment.”

“I think we all are in between,” Tuchel said. “Confidence-wise, I think it is a huge boost, but still, it is a disappointment to go out of the Champions League at the quarterfinal. It's not like a big drama in this kind of way, but of course, it is still a disappointment because we felt we could be one of the four teams in the semifinal.

“It is a weird feeling. We had a huge task to go to Madrid – to win by a minimum of two goals to make it to extra time or three goals to win in a knockout game at Bernabeu. This was a fantastic performance and stayed like this, but it still tastes bitter because we are out of the Champions League.”

For the German manager, Chelsea’s exit in the quarterfinals of the Champions League simply came down to individual miscues.

“In both legs, we made too many individual mistakes, and too many got punished by individual quality,” Tuchel said.

From miscommunication within its backline to missed goal-scoring chances, Chelsea sure came away from the tie with plenty of what-ifs.

Chelsea still has much to play for over the remainder of its season, from the FA Cup tie against Crystal Palace to the fight for the top-four spots in the Premier League.