Chelsea begin their Champions League defence. We’re a strong defensive team, that’s why the strikers have a hard time, explains Tuchel

It was quite a surprise for many fans when Chelsea won the Champions League last year. The latter didn’t win the title with an offensive whirlwind, but with a perfectly organised defence with five defenders and two defensive midfielders. It wants to do the same this year.

Last year, Chelsea stuck to the motto: ” If we don’t score, we don’t lose “, which they did, by the way, keeping four clean sheets out of six games in the group with Lampard. But with the arrival of Tuchel at the end of January, the defensive line has become even stronger.

The German pedant created a defensive machine that just didn’t score goals, it was extremely difficult to get into the Blues defence. It did so in the eighth-final against Atlético Madrid, keeping a clean sheet twice and winning 1: 0 and 2: 0. In the quarter-finals Chelsea beat Porto 2: 0, and lost 0: 1 in the rematch, but it meant nothing.

In the semi-finals, the toughest opponent was Real Madrid. After an opening 1-1 draw in Spain, Chelsea showed a perfectly organised performance at home, never letting their opponents have a chance and won 2-0. On the way to the final, Tuchel’s charges conceded only two goals.

And they came out of the final with a clean slate, beating Manchester City 1:0. Tuchel wants to rely on the team’s strongest point – the defence – again this year. Even at the cost of the strikers, who have been struggling at Chelsea. We can think of a few names from the present and the past who have shone elsewhere, but have struggled since moving to Stamford Bridge – Lukaku, Werner, Morata, Torres.

“There is a history of strikers who have struggled at Chelsea, so it’s probably not the easiest place in the world for strikers. In my opinion, Chelsea is a strong defensive team, a physical team that has a certain attitude in competitive football. We ask a lot of our strikers defensively. We want to be a physical, hard-working group that wants to play aggressive football. It‘s a complex sport and we will continue to play with belief and team effort, that’s our DNA,” Tuchel said at the press conference.

Chelsea will face Lille, which won its group ahead of Salzburg, Sevilla and Wolfsburg, in this season’s eighth round. Chelsea finished second behind Juventus due to their loss to Zenit.

The two teams have quite recent experience together. In the 2019/20 season, the two teams faced each other in the group stage, with Chelsea winning twice 2-1. Lille have come a long way since then, winning the French title last year, but the same can be said for defending Champions League champions Chelsea.

“The players are used to playing games at this level, they are very experienced. We prepared well for the game, but now we have to play it. We have to remember what got us here and fulfil our potential,” Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec told a news conference.

Source: UEFA