Michael Ballack admitted we had 'no answers' to Inter's strong defensive display at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening.
The midfielder was talking after being eliminated from the Champions League at the first knockout stage, the first time in four years we have not reached the semi-finals at least, but he was able to give credit to an organised Inter side.
'We didn't play that well, we are really disappointed with our performance but Inter did well,' he admitted. 'We knew it would be difficult to score, we could see from the first leg. Especially in the second half today we had no answer to create chances, and the longer the game went on the harder it got. We are disappointed but have to accept it.
'The first half was okay, we had three or four chances where they defended in the last moment, but the longer the game went on we had no answer to create something, we are really disappointed.'
Things might have been different had we been given two first-half penalties, but both Ballack and team-mate Didier Drogba remained philosophical.
'If you play at this level against strong teams like Inter you have to look at these situations as well. We are not lucky, in the first leg we should get one, and tonight as well,' said the German. 'We don't want to moan but we are a little unlucky of course.'
Drogba, who was sent off after clashing with Inter midfielder Thiago Motta late in the game, felt hard done by, and added: 'I think that Inter made a great match and they deserved to win. [The dismissal] is difficult to take because yes, I stepped on his calf, but I don't think I deserved this red card.
'Probably, we missed the chance in the first match in Milan, in which we had many opportunities but we failed to score more. Tonight Inter were better. I think that now they can go very far in the competition.
'The most important thing is we are out of the competition. We didn't play the way we wanted, Inter stopped us playing and that's what made the game difficult for us. It is a difficult result and now we are going to have to focus on the league and FA Cup.'
That means quickly getting over the disappointment of elimination by bouncing back at Blackburn on Sunday. No doubt Carlo Ancelotti will be looking for the right reaction from his men.
The midfielder was talking after being eliminated from the Champions League at the first knockout stage, the first time in four years we have not reached the semi-finals at least, but he was able to give credit to an organised Inter side.
'We didn't play that well, we are really disappointed with our performance but Inter did well,' he admitted. 'We knew it would be difficult to score, we could see from the first leg. Especially in the second half today we had no answer to create chances, and the longer the game went on the harder it got. We are disappointed but have to accept it.
'The first half was okay, we had three or four chances where they defended in the last moment, but the longer the game went on we had no answer to create something, we are really disappointed.'
Things might have been different had we been given two first-half penalties, but both Ballack and team-mate Didier Drogba remained philosophical.
'If you play at this level against strong teams like Inter you have to look at these situations as well. We are not lucky, in the first leg we should get one, and tonight as well,' said the German. 'We don't want to moan but we are a little unlucky of course.'
Drogba, who was sent off after clashing with Inter midfielder Thiago Motta late in the game, felt hard done by, and added: 'I think that Inter made a great match and they deserved to win. [The dismissal] is difficult to take because yes, I stepped on his calf, but I don't think I deserved this red card.
'Probably, we missed the chance in the first match in Milan, in which we had many opportunities but we failed to score more. Tonight Inter were better. I think that now they can go very far in the competition.
'The most important thing is we are out of the competition. We didn't play the way we wanted, Inter stopped us playing and that's what made the game difficult for us. It is a difficult result and now we are going to have to focus on the league and FA Cup.'
That means quickly getting over the disappointment of elimination by bouncing back at Blackburn on Sunday. No doubt Carlo Ancelotti will be looking for the right reaction from his men.
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