'It was a mistake': Chilwell tenders unreserved apology to fans and teammates for Madrid red card

Chelsea star Ben Chilwell has issued an apology to the fans and his team-mates after being sent off in the 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday. 

The Blues star will miss the second leg after being shown a straight red card in the second half and the left-back has taken to social media to give his view on the incident, with Marc Cucurella also blamed by fans.

The left-back was given his marching orders by referee Francois Letexier on 59 minutes after pulling back Real Madrid winger Rodrygo on the shoulder.

 The 26-year-old was the last man when he fouled the Brazilian, who was on the edge of the penalty area, and it was therefore deemed to be a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Chelsea were already a goal down after Karim Benzema's first-half strike and went on to concede again on 74 minutes when Marco Asensio drilled home a low effort. Chilwell will be suspended for the second leg as his team-mates try to haul themselves back into the tie.

And the England international has spoken out after his dismissal at the Santiago Bernabeu, apologising for his challenge and after a period of reflection, acknowledged he made a "split-second" error to bring down Rodrygo.

Tweeting to his 950,000 followers from his official Twitter account, Chilwell wrote: "Slept on it, and just want to apologise to my team mates and the fans.

"I made the decision in a split second last night and it was a mistake. I always give everything for the team and I will continue to do so. Thank you for the support."

Chilwell was the man shown the red card but angry Chelsea fans laid the blame at the feet of Cucurella, who was substituted on for the injured Kalidou Koulibaly on 55 minutes. 

The Spaniard had only been on the pitch a short time but was crucified for his poor positioning, as he appeared to allow himself to get sucked in by Rodrygo's decoy run moments before Chilwell's tackle.

Some fans felt that the Englishman was given no choice but to try and put off the Real Madrid attacker, who threw himself to the ground somewhat theatrically, as a result of Cucurella's poor defensive work.

Former Tottenham man Jamie O'Hara, now a pundit for talkSPORT, tweeted: “Cucurella is a disgrace, [he has] absolutely killed Chelsea.”

But Liverpool hero Jamie Carragher said that Chilwell was "more at fault" than Cucurella and suggested the defender paid the price for lacking faith in Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

"For me, Cucurella is at fault but that [the sending off] is even more at fault," he said on CBS Sports' coverage. "Don’t pull someone back and give a red card away. The reason you pay a goalkeeper is to do his job and to get you out of trouble defensively – that’s what he’s there for. Let him do his job.

"You’re then down to 10 men, he’s now going to miss the second leg, and it still would have been difficult for Rodrygo to score from there. Going down to 10 men could have completely taken them out of that tie.

"There’s still a glimmer of hope, but defensively from Cucurella that was really poor and then Chilwell, the second part of it, his positional play and also getting the red card – let your goalkeeper do his job!’"