Tuchel accepts Porto defeat en route to Champions League semis

THOMAS TUCHEL has said Chelsea will “accept” their defeat by Porto in yesterday’s quarterfinal second leg, with the result failing to prevent the Blues from reaching the semifinals of the Champions League.

A superb overhead kick by Mehdi Taremi in added time meant Porto emerged 1-0 winners on the night but 2-1 losers on aggregate as Chelsea booked their spot in the final four.

“We accept it,”Tuchel said of his side’s loss to Porto, which marked only the second time that Chelsea have lost since the German coach joined the club in late January.

“It was a tough, tough fight, maybe on the television not so nice to watch.

“Very fast game, very tense game. They are a very aggressive team and they attack in a very fluent and aggressive way.

“They change positions all the time. You have to adapt to many movements, but with every minute we did it better and better.

“We defended very, very well, deserved a clean sheet. We had the better chances but had to hang in there. We had a plan defensively, also a plan offensively.

“Normally Porto are a team that can make other teams under-perform. It happened against City, against Juve, so you have to accept that things are hard,”Tuchel added.

“But part of performance is not to let others perform and we did this today.

“Until the shot in the last minute we did not concede any big chances. At the sideline, it was a pleasure to watch the fight. We deserve to go through.”

Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic each came close to breaking in the second half but the Londoners were more focused on keeping Porto at bay.

“We’re buzzing, it doesn’t get better than that,” said Chelsea’s Mount.

“We could have played better but just getting through was at the forefront of our minds and we did that tonight. We knew as a team we had to work our socks off. We knew what the final result was if we won.”

The Chelsea midfielder acknowledged that new boss Tuchel has had a “big impact” in salvaging what was a sinking ship.

“(Tuchel) has had a big impact,” he told BT Sport when asked about his manager’s qualities.

“It’s difficult to come in mid-way through the season but all players, we knew from day one what he wanted and we’ve implemented it.

“We’ve been working hard in training and we show it on game day. We’ve been solid as a team, performing at a high level – hopefully that continues because there are massive games coming up and we need to keep playing at high level.”

Porto, who earned a 0-0 draw with Premier League leaders Manchester City in the group stage and eliminated Italian champions Juventus in the last 16 were full of belief that they could overcome Tuchel’s team.

It wasn’t to be for Sergio Conceicao’s side, however, despite Taremi’s late, impressive goal.

“I am extremely proud of the group, the players and the way they believe in what they work for. It was one of the best games I have been involved in in Europe. It had everything,” Conceicao said.

“We were very competent in defensive organisation against a great opponent… we did not let Chelsea’s players, who are of the highest level, create many chances.”

Goalscorer Taremi added: “We played a great game, we showed that we are a great team, but unfortunately my goal wasn’t enough.”

Porto midfielder Sergio Oliveira described his side’s exit from the competition as “frustrating and sad”, lamenting the fact they scored so late in the tie.

“Our aim was to score the first goal as quickly as possible, unfortunately we were unable to do that.” – The Independent/Reuters/Agencies