For our Chelsea fan reporter Anna Madden, a rough night against Real Madrid in the ChampionsLeague does not dampen optimism for a bright future.

Sometimes you can do everything you can and still lose. I kissed the badge of my oldest Chelsea shirt; I listened to The Liquidator by Harry J All Stars for an hour before kick-off. Listening to a song that is the club’s unofficial anthem is a relatively new tradition, but one that started with a win so I am not kicking it now. The boys in blue were aware of the same facts that I was: this was our last chance of silverware this season and, perhaps more dauntingly, our only shot of being in the Champions League next season. 

I thought I’d feel some semblance of calm during half-time, but I could not have been more wrong. I wouldn’t say I felt worse during the break, simply because it was impossible to feel worse. It was still 0-0 and I remember thinking that we were lucky that no goals were scored – or unlucky, depending on how you look at it. I had to do something to expel the nervous energy radiating through me so I went outside to get some fresh air, in an attempt to calm down before the match kicked off again. 

The second half began and I was immediately proven wrong: turns out, it was definitely possible to feel worse! No changes were made, a choice that I believe was detrimental to our efforts. In my opinion it was the perfect time to bring at least one other attacker on. For the first 45 minutes, Kai Havertz was our only attacker on the pitch – a choice that was questionable prior to kick-off and a choice that was unfair to Havertz himself.

The first goal Rodrygo scored was undoubtedly the nail in the coffin; his second was like a dagger to the heart. It put them 4-0 up on aggregate, and with only ten minutes to go there was no turning it around.

‘Devastated’ is the best word to describe my feelings once the final whistle blew. In fairness, I wasn’t too optimistic going into this match. It would’ve been hard to be overly positive. Our form recently hasn’t been the best and Real Madrid are quite possibly the best team in the world right now. 

I sat on my sofa, staring at the TV rather despondently. The inevitability of this result didn’t make it any less difficult to take. The reality of what it meant was starting to sink in. No silverware this season and no Champions League football next term. A hard pill to swallow after that sliver of hope that we could do it was gone. 

I have no doubt that we’ll come back from this. We always do. We have a young squad who will be desperate to do their best to win, not just domestically but also in Europe.

For now, until we meet again, goodbye Champions League.