Joe Cole still thinks Chelsea have a chance of turning around their Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid despite slipping to a 2-0 defeat in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Frank Lampard's men were outclassed for long periods, with Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio finding the net either side of a red card for Ben Chilwell after he committed a last-man foul on Rodrygo.
Madrid looked comfortable throughout, but Cole felt Chelsea deserved credit for not rolling over in the closing stages, and believes they have a glimmer of hope heading into next week's return game at Stamford Bridge.
'It's not over. It was a hard night and the moments went to Real but they're the champions and an outstanding team,' Cole told BT Sport.
'Chelsea came here and there were some first half moments with good chances, and the positive is they're still in it and they showed character, heart and fight to stay in there and dig in.
'This is the hardest place to come to in European football.'
Carlo Ancelotti's side are now firm favourites to advance to the last four, and could set up a potential repeat of last year's semi-final clash with Manchester City.
But Rio Ferdinand felt they didn't show enough killer instinct on Wednesday night, and claimed the Spanish giants will see it as an opportunity missed to put the tie to bed.
'Real will be disappointed,' Ferdinand added.
'They're happy they won the game but will think "we could have finished this game and punished them". They were there for the taking.
'Chelsea dug in but they were let off by lacklustre finishing from Real.
'Frank now needs to rally around the team and say: "this game isn't over". Get a goal at Stamford Bridge and it's electric when that happens in these types of game. The tie is still in the balance and there's a chance for you.'
Glenn Hoddle agreed that a comeback cannot be ruled out, but is convinced Chelsea must win when they host Brighton on Saturday so they can build some momentum before they play Madrid again.
'They've got to win at the weekend against Brighton,' Hoddle said.
'Frank gets a win under his belt then they have momentum going for the second leg. If they lose the energy drops.'