Paul Merson fears Chelsea may ‘end up regretting’ Timo Werner’s ‘shocking’ miss in their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid last week.
The former Arsenal midfielder thought Chelsea deserved to take a lead back to Stamford Bridge, but they only managed a 1-1 draw.
Christian Pulisic scored for the Blues, with Karim Benzema equalising for the hosts, but Merson is adamant Werner should also have been on the scoresheet.
Werner fired a point-blank effort straight at Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, when it appeared easier to score, and Merson is concerned that moment may come back to haunt them in the second leg.
‘Chelsea were just head and shoulders above Real and could have finished it then and there,’ Merson wrote in his Daily Star column.
‘You just hope they don’t end up regretting Timo Werner’s miss, because it WAS a shocking miss, NOT a great save by the keeper.
‘Sergio Ramos will probably be back for the second leg and he makes a big difference, so can’t count Madrid out. But I hope Chelsea make it.’
Merson is hoping for an all-English final and thinks it’s a case of job done for Manchester City, who beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the first leg.
‘City look near-on certainties to reach the final after the first leg against Paris St-Germain,’ he added.
‘I’d like to know what happened at half-time because the first half was a walk in the park for PSG. They were slaughtering City.
‘I just have this image of the PSG players laughing and joking at half-time in the dressing room thinking they were through.
‘City got their full-backs to bomb on in the second half and suddenly you had Joao Cancelo on the overload and Kyle Walker making 60-yard runs.
‘They turned the tables so much it was like the two teams had swapped shirts at half-time!
‘I don’t think PSG bottled it though. They just got blown away – and they let in two atrocious goals. A terrible goalkeeping mistake and a Sunday League shocker.’
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