Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HOW TUCHEL TURNED QUAD DREAM INTO A DOG’S DINNER
German’s Munich meal with Pep seven years ago paid off as Chelsea reach fourth FA Cup final in five seasons
SO that dinner with Pep Guardiola in Munich seven years ago finally paid off for Thomas Tuchel.
The football brain that he picked that night as they moved the salt and pepper pots around the table, the brain of the man that the Chelsea manager admits has been an inspiration to him in coaching, was one he finally outthought.
Chelsea have their fourth FA Cup final in the last five seasons, and this morning Manchester City’s dreams of the unprecedented Quadruple lie cold and forgotten, like leftover peas on the plate.
Afterwards, Guardiola bristled at suggestions that he and his team had disrespected this semi-final, by making eight changes from the side that beat Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League three days before.
But this was an odd semi-final. Tuchel’s Chelsea team were up for it from the off, setting about City with vim and purpose.
City, by stark contrast, seemed distracted, disjointed, not really there – until the last 15 minutes when at last they showed their true selves, attacking with aggression and fire.
But Chelsea, as they mostly do under Tuchel, defended well and it was all too little, too late for City.
Chelsea’s England full-back Ben Chilwell revealed afterwards that Tuchel (with Guardiola at the end, left) had insisted his team be brave if they wanted to overcome the side he had called the best in England. And it was wing-back Chilwell (taking on Joao Cancelo, below) and his partner Reece James who were crucial to this Chelsea victory. Pushing on aggressively, they never gave City a chance to breathe.
The England defender said: “The manager said to us that if we wanted to win we needed to be brave, especially when we had the ball. We needed to play forward. The confidence he gave us was important.
“Myself and Reece gave them problems. We had meetings about where we could hurt City – and we knew that was wide – running off the back of their defenders because they like to push forward. It was just about
executing the game plan.” So for the first time in six meetings as coaches, Tuchel had overcome Guardiola. And no one could argue with the result.
In fact, as City meandered, Chelsea could have won by more. Early on, the recalled Timo Werner set up Hakim Ziyech for a strike that was disallowed. It was a warning.
The Londoners were brighter, sharper, quicker on the ball, with Ziyech looking particularly lively.
Chilwell shot wastefully wide when James’ cross found him, and then James curled an effort just past the post. City had barely troubled Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Just after half-time, City suffered a huge blow when Kevin De Bruyne (battling James, bottom left) limped off with an ankle problem – a major worry.
Six minutes later, Mason Mount’s lovely pass saw Werner accelerate away, and his unselfish cross found Ziyech in the middle to slot the ball home.
The Moroccan should have put City out of their misery when he found himself clean through after Ruben Dias’ error, but keeper Zack Steffen saved.
At last City sparked into life, but Kepa saved Rodri’s header. The moment had gone.
City will still win the league and probably the Carabao Cup next weekend – and these two teams could meet again in the Champions League final in Istanbul.
But with this defeat, their Quadruple bid faded away.