‘Anything can happen’ in big Blues adventure
THOMAS TUCHEL says a lack of Champions League experience will not stop Chelsea trying to win the European Cup and has insisted it is ‘anyone’s competition’.
The Blues lost 1-0 to Porto in the second leg of their quarter-final tie on Tuesday but went through to the last four 2-1 on aggregate.
While the likes of last season’s beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain, who also made the semis by knocking out holders Bayern Munich, may have more know-how in the tournament, Tuchel has belief in his young side.
The German was boss of PSG as they lost to Bayern in last year’s final and fancies going one better this term if lady luck smiles on
Once you are in the last four, you play for the final, this is clear
Chelsea. ‘We’re in the competition and in the semi-final it is anyone’s competition,’ he said.
‘In the semi-final, you need players fit, you need momentum and you need luck in the games.
‘When you look on the scoresheet last week, you saw two players who scored their first goals in the competition (Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell). When you look at Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Karim Benzema or Mo Salah score, it is their 50th or 100th goal or something.
‘We have arrived with a very young team. We want a young team to turn it around.
‘What a young team can do is run, fight and hang in there. It is a big adventure for them. It is a big step to be here.
‘It is a very big achievement. Once you are there, you play for the final, this is clear.
‘We take every minute to learn
and grow. You cannot improve without these experiences so we are doing it now during the process, while we are playing it.’
Tuchel pledged ahead of the Porto clash that Chelsea’s ‘emotional’ leaders would rise to the occasion and captain Cesar Azpilicueta reflected on a mission accom
plished. The Blues now face Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
‘The team showed a great spirit, we fought really hard, the attacking players ran a lot,’ Azpilicueta said.
‘The team defended brilliantly, everybody. The attacking players, they did an amazing job, when we
recovered the ball they kept the ball. Porto made a lot of fouls so we couldn’t get them in the transition, because they stopped us a lot when we were accelerating to get into the counter-attack.
‘So I think the team worked very well and I’m very happy with the fighting spirit from everybody.’