We need to play with self-confidence and belief otherwise we have no chance, proclaims Thomas Tuchel
Chelsea and Real Madrid played out a 1-1 draw in the first-leg
|Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel believes that the Blues need to play the second-leg with self-confidence and belief or else they won’t have a chance of beating Real Madrid. The Stamford Bridge side walked away from Madrid with a 1-1 draw in the first-leg and will face the Los Blancos in London next.
Although Chelsea do hold an advantage going into the second leg after the Blues scored an away goal in the first-leg, there is no denying that Real Madrid are a dangerous side. The Los Blancos showcased just that with Karim Benzema’s equaliser coming out of absolutely nowhere but going into the second-leg, both sides know exactly what to expect. That is especially since Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid have a squad that has shown, in the past, that they are more than capable of winning the Champions League.
That does have many Chelsea fans concerned at what could potentially happen at Stamford Bridge in the second-leg and Thomas Tuchel admitted the same. The Chelsea boss revealed that his side’s challenge will be to keep their intensity and tempo going for the entire game. The former Borussia Dortmund boss also added that Chelsea need to have the self-confidence and belief that they can beat the Los Blancos or else it might never happen.
“The challenge will be to keep the intensity going throughout the whole match. The pressure’s on. It’s the second leg, the decisive one, so to arrive with a certain level of belief and self-confidence is absolutely necessary. Otherwise we have no chance against a team like Real Madrid,” Tuchel said, reported the Guardian.
“It does not help so much if your coach is talking about it. We need to really feel it. If I talk about it it’s only because I’m sure they feel it and we can see it in the games – that the team are able to produce performances. They are aware of the challenge.”
A goalless draw will be more than enough to send Chelsea through to their first Champions League final since 2012 but Thomas Tuchel asserted that there is no alternative to winning. The German added that the club needs to be at their best and if they do that, then it’s a “no-brainer that we go for the win”.
“We have no other way to prepare than to encourage my team to try to win. If we are at our best then it’s a no-brainer that we go for the win. This club is about winning. This game is about winning, this competition is about winning. Forget the first-leg result; it’s not as important as everyone thinks. It’s got zero importance in preparation for this match. We will demand from them to be as strong as possible from tomorrow from 8pm. The group has one goal: to overcome Real Madrid,” he added.
