Real Madrid v Chelsea: Time for Timo Werner to join stellar cast of unlikely lads in Champions League – The Warm-Up

Not everyone can win the Ballon d’Or. Only a select few will get the chance to threaten the medal hauls of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wes Brown. But every pro footballer can dream of being a moments player, elevating themselves to cult hero status with one single kick.

The annals of European football are punctuated by unlikely lads, including an impressive cast of Premier League players who have masterminded their very own Lazarus comeback. Massimo Maccarone and his refusal to get amongst it before the 89th minute in Middlesbrough’s run to the 2006 UEFA Cup final. Clint Dempsey and the mad chip that sent Juventus crashing out to Fulham in the 2010 Europa League quarter-finals. Divock Origi tuning in his big-game bottle to help overturn Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League semi-finals. It doesn’t stop there. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Lucas Moura. Jerzy Dudek. All are part of the special history of English teams facing the impossible on the continent.

It's good news for Thomas Tuchel. The Blues boss is craving a "fantastic script" as Chelsea head to the Bernabeu tonight hoping to overturn a 3-1 deficit from their calamitous quarter-final opener. And with their usual attacking hope sidelined - the sometimes-in-form-usually-out-of-form Romelu Lukaku - could it be time for another unsung hero to emerge?

It’s happened before at Chelsea when in April 2012, Fernando Torres flicked the ball around Victor Valdes in the Camp Nou and stroked into an empty net. Torres, a £50m signing when £50m was a lot, doesn’t quite belong among the Maccarones and Origis, but he salvaged his Chelsea reputation when he unexpectedly sent them into the Champions League final.

A decade on, Tuchel will be hoping for a repeat from another unloved star. Timo Werner is expected to get the nod in attack after he TRIPLED his Premier League goal tally for the season on Saturday – not six becoming 18, sadly, just one becoming three. Since Werner arrived for £47.5m in 2020, he has cut a figure incapable of doing anything correctly that requires thought. The German Alvaro Morata, if you will.

Still, the stage is set for him, or another lesser-heralded name, to wipe out their debt by being the headline act in another famous fightback by an English side. Not that Tuchel is actually backing any of his players to do that…

"It's not the biggest chance, given the first game and the competition, the opponent and the stadium we play in," said Tuchel. "But we never manage our input and effort by our chances. We never have, and we will not start tomorrow by giving less.

"It is unlikely we will make it but we will try and we will play to our full limit because this is what we do. It's a big night and we will try to be in better shape and a better condition than the first match. It is one of the biggest challenges to perform as an away team at the Bernabeu. Even more if you need a certain result. It makes it almost impossible but it is still worth trying."

Prove him (and us) wrong, Timo...

He helped end the wait for La Decima. Played a pivotal role in three more European triumphs. Scored the greatest goal in Champions League final history (no offence, Zizou). Ran off the pitch and still obliterated the Barcelona defence to singlehandedly win the Copa del Rey. And yet is still the most despised man in Madrid.

Gareth Bale came out of hiding in Real’s 2-0 win over Getafe at the weekend, earning his £600,000 weekly pocket money with a 15-minute cameo amid a harsh chorus of boos at the Bernabeu.

He’s no stranger to this, of course. Even his own team-mates have seemed pretty fed up at times. Thibaut Courtois once had a pop at him because Bale wanted an early night, rather than blow up his digestive system with a late-night feast with his comrades.

But just as his final day in Madrid nears, finally someone has come out in support. It’s at least five years too late but take it away, Casemiro...

"When you whistle one player, you whistle all of us," Casemiro told the fans. "Football is about opinions, everyone has theirs, but I don't agree when a player on my team is whistled. We're all on the same side, we have to support him.

"I didn't like the whistles the other day for Bale. He's a historic player for this club. He's scored a lot of important goals for this club. When you whistle a player like that, you're whistling the history of this club. I didn't like it. I think the fans have to support us."

Just imagine: Werner bags a hat-trick. Chelsea lead 4-3 on aggregate. The Madridistas grow restless. Then Bale comes off the bench, pops up with a late double and refuses to celebrate in the most frosty of atmospheres.

How's that for a script, Mr Tuchel?

We can’t mention Massimo Maccarone without showcasing his greatest hits. Middlesbrough found themselves 3-0 down on aggregate to Basel in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in 2006 when the impossible happened. (If you have headphones in, RIP your ears).

You were expecting Dempsey or Origi, weren’t you? But you can’t have one Maccarone epic without the other. The scenario was eerily similar: Middlesbrough were 3-0 behind on aggregate to Steaua Bucharest in the semi-finals when everyone’s favourite bald Italian clicked into action again.

Gareth Bale 2-3 Timo Werner at the Bernabeu (Real Madrid win 5-4 on aggregate) and Robert Lewandowski 5-0 Villarreal (Bayern win 5-1 on aggregate) in the Champions League quarter-finals. Both kick-off at 20:00 BST.