With Chelsea able to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League with a draw against Juventus tomorrow, and with finishing top spot still within our grasp if we beat the Italians, Thomas Tuchel has been considering balancing those two aims in the way his side plays.
Our head coach has also discussed the prospect of playing in front of Roman Abramovich at Stamford Bridge, with our owner back at the stadium on Sunday for a special event hosting the 49 Flames exhibition.Tuchel was asked in his media conference on Tuesday afternoon whether his side will feel the need to put on a special display if Mr Abramovich is in attendance at our fifth group-stage game.‘Do we put on a show for him? No,’ Tuchel responded.‘Our show is the basics, and we give our very best if the owner is here or if he's not here, because if he's not here I know he will watch us closely.
‘We put on a show on a daily basis and by show, I mean hard work to make him happy and to entertain him and all our supporters in the stadium. Tomorrow is a big game. It's a tough game. We need everybody in the stadium full on. We need ourselves to be on top level. If he's there we are super happy but it does not change what we do.’Tuchel went on to discuss further what it is like at Chelsea with Mr Abramovich as owner.‘First and most important he's a huge football fan,’ he stated. ‘He is in love with the game, he is in love with the details and he wants to know everything about it and about what's going on here in Cobham.
‘We keep him informed because of his genuine interesting and genuine love for the game. He wants to be entertained, he wants to be competitive and he wants to have the right attitude on the pitch and this is what he created here. We are blessed to enjoy our time here in this club and to keep on progressing.’With Champions League progress in our hands, Tuchel addressed the approach to tomorrow night’s game.‘Firstly and foremost we do what we do when we play football games - we try to win them. This will not change.‘Okay, late in the game if the score is a draw we will maybe not allow Edou Mendy to go into the opponents box when we have a late corner because we will not risk our qualification and go all in if the situation is like this, but until this moment, we will try everything to win the game and have a chance to win the group - and for this we have to win the game.’