The Bees ran out 4-1 winners at Stamford Bridge, with all five of the game’s goals coming after the interval and the visitors fighting back from behind following Antonio Rudiger’s incredible opener from distance.

In trying to pinpoint the reasons for such a big loss, Tuchel reflected on losing control of proceedings during a short period after going in front and then being unable to recover.

‘We lost control in 10 minutes, conceded three goals in that time and lost the game from there,’ he said after the game. ‘It’s very frustrating because we had got into the lead through Toni’s goal and we were in total control until that point too.

‘It’s very hard to create chances against Brentford and once we had that first goal, we stopped defending and gave three goals away in 10 minutes, which is very untypical and of course killed the game today for us.

‘The last 20 minutes of the first half were okay and we had a very good start to the second half, taking the lead as well. After that, I’m not sure what happened but we lost the game totally in 10 minutes. Maybe we thought things were already done and we’ve been punished in 10 minutes.

‘We had our opportunities to come back. We had the disallowed goal and we’ve had plenty of shots at the goalkeeper. We had a very big chance through Kai that we didn’t take and then we know what happened.’

Tuchel felt his players looked tired after the recent internationals…

‘It was a tough start, which is not the first time it’s been like that after an international break, and it took us a while to find our rhythm and to find full control.

‘We lacked energy and we didn’t do the things that usually make us strong. We looked tired, physically and mentally tired. It’s a big challenge to play after the international break but you have to get your results right as the favourite and being at home. We didn’t do that well enough today.

‘I’m aware that my expectations were not too high for this match. It’s a challenge to play after an international break and as a favourite on top of it, to dictate the match and to break down a well-organised, physical team.

‘We were in the lead, in charge and I felt us better and better so I did not see that coming.’

The boss insisted there were no thoughts ahead to Real Madrid in either his team selection or the performance of his players…

‘We selected the team because we thought it was the best team against Brentford so not half an eye, not one per cent for Real Madrid.

‘Maybe if we had lost it 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 but this was not the case.’

Finally, Tuchel revealed there were no fresh injuries and why Trevoh Chalobah missed out on the matchday squad…

‘It was a selection decision,’ he said of Chalobah. ‘We decided to play a back four and we choose four central defenders.

‘Nobody injured,’ he added of the three substitutes who came off.