Chelsea vs Atletico: Tuchel confident but not thinking of Champions League trophy

CHELSEA manager Thomas Tuchel has refused to look beyond the UEFA  Champions League round of 16 second leg clash against Atletico Madrid until the tie is over.

The Blues host the LaLiga leaders on Wednesday after winning 1-0 in Madrid three weeks ago.

Chelsea have remained unbeaten in 12 matches under Tuchel, but he is wary of the Spaniards.

Tuchel said he could not think about his side’s chances of winning the competition, insisting that his only concern is Wednesday night.

“We have an advantage because of playing at home and leading, and we are confident,” the German said during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

“But we have to be focused, hungry to score and play with intensity. Every team in the last 16 can win the competition and we are in there to win this game. I am here to win games. You are never totally safe as a coach.”

Chelsea have scored only 13 goals in the 12 matches under Tuchel and he admitted that his strikers should take more of their scoring chances.

Tuchel also agreed that rotation of his forwards might not be helping them to score goals. However, while taking responsibility for the paucity of goals, Tuchel explained that there is no time to get four or five matches to get to scoring regularly. 

“This is a given,” he noted. “We try to put them in a good mindset. We did some changes because we needed to adapt. We create enough chances and half-chances to win games and did that against Leeds. We need to be more precise.”

When the former Borussia Dortmund manager was asked about the future of one of his misfiring forwards Timo Werner’s future amid reports the player is unhappy,  he said he hoped the speculation would disappear soon. 

Tuchel praised Werner’s performance against Liverpool and Everton and said he must continue to focus on the process and not worry about not scoring chances.

“We gave him time to breathe against Leeds. I don’t see why he should be too frustrated.”

Atletico Madrid eliminated Liverpool from the Champions League last season after winning the second leg at Anfield in extra-time.