The Blues left the Spanish capital with a potentially vital away goal from our 1-1 draw with Zinedine Zidane’s men, with Christian Pulisic opening the scoring before Karim Benzema levelled the tie.

It means it’s all to play for at Stamford Bridge in a week’s time, with Kante hopeful that the Blues can progress through to the final in Istanbul.

‘We are happy for the result,’ explained Kante, who was named Man of the Match.

‘Coming into this game, we knew we’d be playing against a great team and we wanted to leave with a good result so we would have the momentum ahead of the second leg at home.

‘I think overall 1-1 is a fair result. We had many chances that we didn’t score but we can be happy with the draw.

‘We are looking forward to playing at home and hopefully qualifying for the final.’

Chelsea started the game brightly, with Timo Werner denied from close range before Pulisic slotted past former Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois moments later.

On another night there could have been even more Chelsea goals but despite not adding to our tally, Kante believes there are many positives to take from the fixture and feels we can go into the return leg full of confidence.

‘We need to take the positives from this game,’ added the French midfielder. ‘Yes, we could have scored more goals from the chances we created, but the main thing is we were creating the opportunities to score and that is a positive sign.

‘For sure, reaching the final is a goal and it is possible for us now. We have to be fully focused on the second leg when it comes, because we are playing against a very strong opponent.

‘We are confident in our abilities though and we must be confident that we can reach the final.’