Joe Cole: The only disappointing thing is that Chelsea didn't put the tie to bed

Joe Cole believes that Chelsea did not make their dominance on Tuesday night, as the Premier League side drew 1-1 against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

The Blues put in an excellent display at Valdebebas, but they were not able to return to London with a first-leg lead.

"The only disappointing thing is not to put [the tie] to bed," Cole said on BT Sport.

"I just think [Real Madrid] won't play as bad as that in the return leg.

"It was a good result, [a] fantastic performance, but it could have been better."

The former Chelsea playmaker also lavished praise on Zinedine Zidane and believes that he is an exceptional coach.

"Zidane doesn't get all the recognition he deserves," Cole stated.

"If you put his career as a footballer together with his career as a coach, I think he has to be at the level of Johan Cruyff, maybe even higher, because he has won more."

Former Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman echoed Cole's comments, but he argued that they did not go all-out for the win as they have a home tie in store on May 5.

"I think Real Madrid will be happy with the result, because Chelsea were the better team," McManaman said.

"A home win will take [Chelsea] to the final, so they played carefully in the second half."

BT Sport presenter Gary Lineker reserved special praise for N'Golo Kante on Twitter, who put in a brilliant performance in midfield.

"On way home from covering the game and expecting to be intercepted by N'Golo Kante," he wrote.

However, despite the positivity from those on BT Sport, Jamie Carragher was a little more pessimistic when talking about Chelsea goalscorer Christian Pulisic on CBS Sports.

"I'm a big fan [of Pulisic], but I don't think he'll get to the level of Eden Hazard... Apologies, he won't," Carragher said.

"Eden Hazard was the best player in the Premier League for four years and Belgium finished third in the World Cup [in 2018], he was the best player in the tournament - that is the level we are talking about with Hazard.

"This is not me knocking Pulisic - it might look like that on social media after the show from certain people - but I think we forget how good Hazard was.

"He was my favourite player in the Premier League and for Pulisic to get there and to light up a major tournament for the US will be difficult.

"Yes, I think he can have a brilliant career and he has a lot of potential, but I don't see him getting to that level."