The Blues will be playing in Russia in their final group game of the Champions League against Zenit St. Petersburg. Having secured two disappointing results in the league in recent times, there have been some concerns among the fans about their dip in form, which led to the club losing their top spot in the Premier League.
The German manager will not be sending a lot of the first team players to Russia, despite the top spot in their group still not confirmed with the club on level terms with Juventus. However, a win here will certainly put them on top, as they lead the Bianconeri on head-to-head.
Tuchel mentioned that the next game against Leeds United in the Premier League is coming on Saturday and sending a lot of the first team players on this trip will make it difficult for the side to play the club from Yorkshire. He also acknowledged the fact that Leeds are a high-intense team, who won’t make life easy for the current European champions.
“The problem is the next match on Saturday. We will lose time to sleep, we will arrive back in the very early morning of Thursday. And on Saturday we will face a very intense team of Leeds, who have prepared the whole week for this match.
So long story, short message, there’s a huge chance that we rest some players and maybe more importantly we give some players the load who need the load, the minutes and rhythm, to put it another way,”
Tuchel said.
The 48-year-old manager also has plenty of injury concerns among his primary starters, with the likes of N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic sidelined due to injuries. The Croat, who had recovered from his hamstring injury and started training with the team, had tested COVID positive and was ruled out again.
Tuchel acknowledged the fact that it was frustrating to watch Manchester City and Liverpool overtake his team, but he remains adamant that the race isn’t over yet and he could still achieve the prize they’re looking for.
