We travel to Tottenham holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final, and if we can avoid defeat in north London – or even lose by a single goal – we will be back at the national stadium to contest a showpiece domestic final for the sixth season in a row.

It was Tuchel who guided us to Wembley in May, but he left without a winners’ medal as Leicester edged past us by a single goal. That setback is fuelling Tuchel’s determination to ahead of tonight’s game.

‘It always hurts losing a final, but you have to swallow it and move on,’ he said.

‘We are very competitive, and we all want to be there. I want to be there personally. When you are so close and you make it to a semi-final, and you win the first leg, you can see Wembley on the horizon, you want to go there. It’s a big target now.

‘We want to show this determination that is necessary and you feel when you’re close. It’s getting real and it brings out the very best in all of us.’

Tuchel has seen his team perform well so far in what is a blockbuster set of January fixtures. Following a bumpy December full of late goals that swung games this way and that, the boss believes his players are getting back to their best, helped by numbers swelling after injury and illness.

‘I have the feeling everybody is aware of the importance of the matches. If you see how we played against Liverpool and Tottenham we should have trust in what we do, and should have trust in the mentality and attitude of the players.

‘We lacked some points in December, but there are good reasons for it. There is no need to exaggerate, and no need to prolong any drama. We know we can make it into the first final of the domestic season, then in early February the Club World Cup arrives.

‘We now play Tottenham, City, Brighton, then Tottenham again. Everybody is competitive and the most important thing is not to freak out, to stay calm and be ready. It’s very demanding but this is what we want.’