Thomas Tuchel Press conference ahead of Atletico Madrid encounter

​Thomas Tuchel's Full Pre-Athletico Madrid Press Conference

Photo courtesy (Facebook)

🔹Tuchel on Athleti: "I expect more or less the same as in Bucharest. They have Tripiper, Carrasco and Gimenez back. Lemar, Llorent available in the half positions that changes the approach but in general I expect ore or less the same, a team that is hard to play against, find spaces behind the last lines and for sure super hard to create chances against."

🔹Tuchel on Stance on defender's contracts - Silva, Rudiger, Christensen: "First of all it is maybe the worst moment to talk about it one day before a big and importnt match. Everybody knows the situation of the three players who have performed on a super high level. Thiago has been missing many weeks now but is too long but Andreas and Toni have done a great job so far."

🔹Thomas Tuchel says Atletico Madrid's DNA is to be one of the toughest teams to beat in Europe - knows they are organised, but have incredible quality in attack - says they have a 'complete squad'.

🔹How conscious of the importance of getting silverware?

Tuchel: "Every team that plays a second leg in the round f 16 is there to win the competition, there is no doubt about it. Every team in the last 16 can win the competition. This is how we respect it and what we are in for, to win this game. I am very grateful to be a part of this club, it feels very natural to be here. I like how the team plays and how we fight together, compete together." 

🔹 Tuchel on Injuries/suspensions: "A little bit, they are two key players for us (Mount and Jorginho). They have been important so far but we have a group that competes, now is time to adapt and find solutions as we will play without those two guys. We will also be without Thiago Silva and Tammy Abraham."

🔹Tuchel on Strikers need consistency to start scoring : "Maybe. Then it is my fault and responsibility for changing. But you know, if we put a goalkeeper in goal then we expect them to perform in that much. The defence, we expect a clean sheet. If you arrive at elite level football, play for Chelsea, there is no time to perform. It simply does not exist, you are constantly in a competition with other players but there is no time to get 4, 5, 6 matches in a row to score regularly. We are pushing them, working hard with the ball and yeah, we did some changes ebcause we needed to adapt and the results are not so crazy bad. Here, we blame nobody for anything but we explain the points clearly and we can clearly improve in finishing."

🔹Tuchel on Chelsea being favourites for the Champions League: "Even if I could answer that, what would it change for tomorrow? It is not a question, it is OK for you to ask but no way will I answer it."

🔹Tuchel on Intensity: "We want to play a high intensity match as we are used to playing them. We want to score and at the same time enjoy this competition and win a big match like this. We need to play with hunger, eb aggressive and at a high level as a team. What happens in the tournament is out of our hands, we can do what we influence and that is the game tomorrow. "

🔹Tuchel on Kepa dropped from Spain squad: "Pretty sure for Kepa it is a disappointment. I heard some hours ago, that is clear but as I said befre, he is super strong here, he is our player and it doesnt affect how we work with him and keep on going Would it be easir if he plays on a regular basis, yes. Edouard Mendy is the number one and he has to be competitive for that. He 100 per cent reliable, top performance in training, outstanding. That doesn't help our strikers because it is so hard to score in training."

🔹Tuchel on Timo Werner: "For Timo, he has no reason now not to be frustrated because he did an amazing match against Liverpool then he had a good match against Everton witha lot of chances to score. He did not score, OK, this sticks in a situation like this but what does it help? The clear advice from us is don't foucs on the result, get your decision making right and technique right and the ball will do the rest."

 

Photo courtesy (Chelsea fb)

From soccerbreaking24 we wish all the best to all the teams.