Arrizabalaga and Rudiger are praised by Tuchel for courage in settling their spat
THOMAS Tuchel has hailed Antonio Rudiger and Kepa Arrizabalaga for showing “courage” to make amends after their training-ground bust-up.
Chelsea boss Tuchel confirmed that Germany defender Rudiger and Spain goalkeeper Kepa clashed in training, but insisted that the players have solved the spat and the matter is finished.
The Blues were thumped 5-2 by West Brom on Saturday, paying a hefty price for Thiago Silva’s red card and eventually slipping out of the Premier League’s top four.
They now face Porto in Seville in tonight’s Champions League quarter-final first leg, with Tuchel adamant the Cobham training-ground incident is completely finished.
“It was nothing to do with the defeat, it was just an incident in training; it got heated up between Toni and Kepa, so we calmed the situation down immediately,” said Tuchel.
“I don’t want to play it down with anything artificial, these are things we don’t want to accept; it was unusual, but they can happen.
“They are all competitors and want to win training matches. We needed to interfere in the situation, so that was serious, but the way the guys handled the situation, that was impressive and showed a lot of courage.
“The reaction was not okay, but the reaction to it, how the guys handled the situation, especially Toni and Kepa, was amazing and showed how much respect they have for each other.
“They cleared the air immediately. This was the most important so there was nothing left the day after. We spoke about the issue and then it was solved.
“This was the main part. They sorted it out straight after training in a very honest, humble and very direct way. That showed me they have very good character.
“Toni sorted it out directly, anditwasastrongandbrave thing to do. So I am happy with the way they dealt with it.”
Porto boss Sergio Conceicao has warned his players to be wary of the wounded Blues.
“You know that Thiago Silva was sent off in the first half and that the game had a different course,” said Conceicao.
“Chelsea until this last game had been extremely competent, they have not lost a game in the Champions League, they have the second-best defence in the Champions League and also in the English League.
“They are a competent team, and when these defeats happen it serves as a warning.
“If you want my opinion, I would prefer that they won the last game because these situations make the siren sound and make everyone more alert, more awake to danger and I don’t like these defeats very much.”