Thomas Tuchel insists Chelsea showed against Real Madrid that they deserve to be playing in Champions League semi-final

German manager says team must show 'belief and self confidence' in second leg on Wesdnesday 'otherwise we have no chance'

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  REAL MADRID RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois – 7. Made a fine point-blank save with his foot to keep out Werner 10 minutes in. Pulisic wandered around him for the goal, but he stood up to everything else. AFP

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  Eder Militao – 8. Made the flick-on that set up Benzema’s equaliser. At the other end, he had a crucial block to thwart Werner at the start of the second half, and later against Ziyech. AP

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  Raphael Varane – 6. Got in the way of a Mount drive that was goalbound in the second half. Upended Havertz to leave Chelsea with a dangerous shooting opportunity. AP

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  Nacho – 6. Caught out for the goal by an incisive through ball from Rudiger, and was unable to make amends thereafter. AP

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  Dani Carvajal – 6. Looked pained when he clashed knees with Chilwell, and was not visibly comfortable in his wing-back role before he was taken off in the second half. Getty

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  Luka Modric – 7. Absent in the first half, but started to assert himself after the break. It was no coincidence that was when the hosts started to purr for the first time. PA

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  Casemiro – 6. Often overrun by the fluent Chelsea forward runners early on, but made a vital contribution for Benzema’s goal. EPA

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  Toni Kroos – 6. Struggled to keep pace with Kante, as shown when he was booked for a foul on the Frenchman. Seemed more keen to run back towards his own goal with the ball than progress the play. AP

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  Marcelo – 6. Lucky not to be punished after his mistake led to an opportunity for Werner at the start if the second half. Booked for a cynical foul on Pulisic. AP

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  Karim Benzema – 8. The one player who railed against the blue tide in the early exchanges. Crashed a drive from distance against a post, then powered in a goal from a corner. Reuters

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  Vinicius Junior – 5. Booked for a lunging challenge on Pulisic as the rain teemed down. Flattered to deceive too often, and made way for Hazard. Getty

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  SUBS: Eden Hazard – 6. Rarely spotted after he was brought on for Vinicius in the second phase, when he would have been itching to impress against his former side. Getty

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  Marco Asencio – NA. Inconspicuous after his second-half introduction. Getty

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  Alvaro Odriozola – NA. Had just enough time to propel himself into the referee’s notebook with a foul on a rampaging Rudiger. Getty

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  Rodrygo – NA. Got himself an appearance fee in injury time at the end of the game. EPA

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  CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy – 6. Madrid’s goal was down to his defence failing to clear a cross rather than any error on his part. He was troubled little apart from that. Getty

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  Andreas Christensen – 7. No clean sheet, which is rare under Thomas Tuchel’s stewardship, but their back three was generally solid enough against a celebrity opposition. AFP

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  Thiago Silva – 7. Helped his captain, Azpilicueta, out with an acrobatic clearance in the second half, and provided a calming presence throughout. AFP

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  Antonio Rüdiger – 7. Provided an adept assist as Chelsea took a well-deserved early lead, but was beaten to the header by Militao which set up Benzema’s goal. EPA

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  Cesar Azpilicueta – 6. He and Marcelo mostly cancelled each other out, before he showed signs of cramp and was swapped off for James. Getty

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  N’Golo Kante – 9. Powered his side forward as they dominated the opening throes, and played a brilliant reverse pass to set up Werner just after the interval. AFP

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  Jorginho – 7. Given the celebrated players they were up against, Kante and Jorginho’s dominance of the midfield was commendable. EPA

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  Ben Chilwell – 5. Often out of sorts when well placed high up the field, and showed signs of apprehension when he booted a clearance into touch when under little pressure. PA

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  Christian Pulisic – 8. Deft header set up Werner for an early chance from which he should have scored. Exuded composure when he opened the scoring shortly after. Booked for a foul on Marcelo. Getty

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  Timo Werner - 6. Somehow contrived to shoot at Courtois when a goal should have been his on 10 minutes. Had a good chance in the second, too, before making way for Havertz. EPA

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  Mason Mount – 7. His purposeful run led to the early chance for Werner, and he was prominent in Chelsea’s early excellence. Getty

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  SUBS: Hakim Ziyech – NA. Very perky after his late introduction, and might have had a scoring chance were it not for the sharpness of Militao. Reuters

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  Reece James – NA. Immediately into defensive action with two timely interventions shortly after coming on for Azpilicueta. AP

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  Kai Havertz – NA. Brought on for his compatriot Werner, and did win a free-kick in a promising position in the short time he was given to influence the play. Reuters

Thomas Tuchel believes that Chelsea's impressive performance in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid proved that his team deserve to be playing at the highest level of European football.

Christian Pulisic scored for Chelsea and secured a crucial away goal in their 1-1 draw against the 13-times European champions in Spain, to give Tuchel's side a narrow advantage ahead of Wednesday's second leg in London.

"The main lesson is that we can trust ourselves and we have the right to be in the semi-final," Tuchel told a news conference on Tuesday. "We deserve to be there.

"It's the second leg, the decisive one, so to arrive with a certain level of belief and self-confidence is absolutely necessary. Otherwise we have no chance against a team like Real Madrid."

The German, who replaced Frank Lampard in January, added that the biggest challenge his team faced was to forget the first-leg scoreline.

"The challenge is always over two games, you play the first game and then you start at 0-0 again," he said.

"I don't know any other way to prepare a match than to encourage my team to go out and try to win.

"If we are at our best then it's a no-brainer that we go for the win. We want to win games, this club is about winning.

"The first result is not as important as everybody thinks. There is zero importance for me in the preparation of this match.

"It's not changed anything about how we've prepared, zero influence. We will encourage them, we will demand from them and we will be strong tomorrow as a group."

Midfielder Mateo Kovacic will miss the game with a hamstring injury, while defender Antonio Rudiger will have to wear a protective face mask if he is in the squad.

Real have injury issues of their own, with Raphael Varane out for 10 days and Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal both out for the season.

Their skipper Sergio Ramos, also missed the first leg, but Tuchel fully expects the centre back to feature at Stamford Bridge.

"I think that he will start, we will prepare for that," Tuchel said. "Does it change a lot for Real Madrid? Yes, he's their captain.

"So it changes a lot but we cannot lose our heads about this decision. We should be self-confident and have no fear to face this challenge.

Gallery: Chelsea 2 Fulham 0

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  Kai Havertz scores the opening goal in Chelsea's 2-0 Premier League win over Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, April 1 . AFP

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  Kai Havertz, second right, clebrates after scoring the first. EPA

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  Fulham manager Scott Parker. AFP

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  Chelsea striker Timo Werner controls the ball watched by Fulham's Joachim Andersen. EPA

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  Chelsea celebrate Kai Havertz's opening goal. Reuters

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  Chelsea's Kai Havertz celebrates after scoring his second goal. EPA

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  Chelsea's Reece James controls the ball under pressure from Antonee Robinson of Fulham. EPA

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  Chelsea's Kai Havertz scores their second goal. Reuters

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  Chelsea's Kai Havertz after scoring the second. PA

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  Fulham's Ola Aina argues with the assistant referee. PA

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  Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel. Reuters