Michael Ballack admits Chelsea could not break down Inter Milan in Tuesday's Champions League defeat.

Ballack bluntly described Chelsea as having "no answer" to Inter.

"To play against this team, they were defensively so strong and in every duel they were unbelievable, clever and hard," said the Germany midfielder. "Normally you find an answer because we are also a physical team but we were not good on the night and were disappointed."

"You can't take this second half or match for (assessing) the development of this team over a whole year," Ballack said. "I don't think the team looks poor generally."