Chelsea rely on emotional leaders for Porto ‘fight’ says Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel believes Chelsea's "emotional" leaders Toni Rudiger, Cesar Azpilcueta and Mateo Kovacic are fired up for tonight’s Champions League scrap with Porto.

Blues boss Tuchel insists those big characters will be itching for the battle when Chelsea aim to turn their 2-0 quarter-finalfirst-legleadinto safe passage to the last four.

Kai Havertz starred in Saturday's 4-1 Premier League victory at Crystal Palace, with Tuchel later claiming the Germany forward should embrace his languid style and does not need to set the Blues' mental tone.

Germany defender Rudiger, club skipper Azpilicueta and Croatia midfielder Kovacic will handle that role in Seville, with Tuchel calling on his players to stick to their individual and collective strengths.

"Honestly, you don't want to be in a fight with Toni Rudiger, and Azpi, and Kova; they are all emotional guys and you wouldn't want to be in a fight with them," said Tuchel.

"Because they are all ready to fight and it's in their nature to show it on the pitch and to protect the interests of our team which is very, very important. They are there and we can rely on themwhen I was a player on the lower level it was always important for me, when you had big matches and felt the tension, you could go out of the tunnel, look around who's next to you and feel confident and comfortable.

"And I'm pretty sure that our guys feel very, very comfortable when they look around and see who they rely on.

"The best thing about tomorrow is nobody needs to do it alone, nobody. "We are out there together, everybody on the pitch will help each other, and the guys who come off the bench.

"That means that we have 90 minutes to fight for, minimum, and we will do it to achieve a big goal."

Chelsea face a season-defining week given Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City follows quickly on from tonight’s Porto clash.

Tuchel has told his players to let everyone else "wreck their heads" about the week's greater significance, while Chelsea must focus solely on seeing off a stubborn Porto outfit.

Tuchel he has yet to decide if midfield linchpin N'golo Kante is fit enough to start both matches this week, after his recent hamstring injury. He said: “This decision we will take tomorrow, after we reflect on training today.”