On Tuesday, Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid saw Marc Cucurella have a forgettable evening, with a lapse in concentration for Los Blancos’ opener summarizing his struggles of late.
On Wednesday night, the 24-year-old Spanish defender failed to track Rodrygo’s run at the Bernabeu, allowing the Brazilian forward to run through on goal.
Consequently, Ben Chilwell had to bring him down, leading to a straight red card for the England international.
A week later and Cucurella’s defensive frailties were on show again in the Champions League, when he left Rodrygo wide open on the right flank after closing down Eder Militao. You can see that moment below.
Rodrygo hits Chelsea with the sucker punch goal! 🥊
Real Madrid ride plenty of pressure from the home side and bury a chance of their own down the other end! 🔥#UCL pic.twitter.com/SuVCN2EGtv
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 18, 2023
Rodrygo went on to make it 1-0 in the second leg at Stamford Bridge after some poor defending from the home side.
Here’s how fans reacted to the incident.
One said: “Say what you want but when your left-back help runs off to who knows where and you’ve got half the width of the pitch to cover against one of the best young wide forwards in the world, bad things happen.”
A second wrote: “I have said this for months. Cucurella’s defensive positioning is one of if not THE worst we have every seen for a defender at Chelsea.”
A third commented: “Absolutely fascinating defensive positioning from Cucurella for that goal.”
A fourth added: “Chelsea’s defending in recent weeks has been awful. Just another example of how unorganised our back line is and how unstructured we are when out of possession. Look at that back line.”
Say what you want but when your left-back help runs off to who knows where and you’ve got half the width of the pitch to cover against one of the best young wide forwards in the world, bad things happen. pic.twitter.com/cBCPrSLOpY
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) April 18, 2023
Thoughts on Cucurella’s performance against Real Madrid across both legs?
Let us know in the comments.