Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes took another huge blow on Wednesday night after a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Brighton.
Romelu Lukaku had given Thomas Tuchel’s side a first-half lead as they look to remain six points behind Manchester City.
However, they weren’t at their best during the 90 minutes and you can't say Danny Welbeck’s injury-time equaliser was underserved.
It leaves Chelsea eight points adrift of Man City and their title hopes hanging by a thread.
And to say Tuchel was fuming at full-time would be an understatement.
When asked about his side’s chances of winning the league, he insisted it would be stupid to think about it bemoaning Chelsea’s Covid situation and injuries.
VIDEO: Tuchel says it would be 'stupid' to think Chelsea can win title
“How should we be in it? We have seven Covid cases. We have five or six players out for six or more weeks. How should we compete in a title race?" he asked.
“Everyone else who has a full squad, everybody in training has the full power to come through this league.
“We would be stupid to think we can do it out of Covid and injuries and just play, and everybody would be stupid to do it without 23 fit players.”
Incidentally, Chelsea's bench against Brighton included: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcos Alonso, Ross Barkley, Trevor Chalobah, Kai Havertz, N'Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech.
And when asked about the integrity of the competition, Tuchel replied: “This is the reality, this is where we are and we have to adapt to the demands of the situation which you are in.
“I competed very hard for the win at Brighton at home. I don’t know what I can expect from my players in terms of physicality, intensity or minutes. Nobody knows any more because we have never done something like this. We play trial and error and see what we can do.
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“I will protect my team. We can play better but we need the full squad over weeks and weeks. It’s a hamstring injury for Reece James which is a huge blow, and a back injury for Andreas Christensen.”
The Chelsea boss was then angry at the decision not to award Christian Pulisic a penalty in the second half.
VIDEO: Tuchel fuming at the decision not to award Chelsea a penalty
Chelsea need to immediately brush themselves down and put together a side to compete against Liverpool on Sunday. You get the feeling that a defeat for either side in that will end their title hopes once and for all.
It doesn’t get much bigger.
Chelsea TITLE RACE OVER? Chelsea 1-1 Brighton | Brentford 0-1 Man City (The Football Terrace)