Who was going to tell Thomas
Tuchel when on January 26 he took the reins of a Chelsea downcast, away from the stalls Champions and with the difficult task of facing the Athletic
from
Madrid in the second round of the Champions League, which 99 days after his arrival was made official would have the London team fourth in the Premier
League, at the end of the FA
Cup… And in a whole final of the Champions
League, the third in ‘blue’ history after those disputed in 2008, when they lost to the Manchester
United, and 2012, year in which they raised their first -and until the last moment- orejona after an epic final against the Bayern
Munich.
After driving to Paris Saint-Germain to his first final of Champions Last season, Nasser
Al-Khelaïfi decided to cease Tuchel
in December 2020 at the gates of the round of 16 tie against the FC
Barcelona. The Parisians defeated the Catalans and the current champion, the Bayern
Munich, but Manchester
City from Pep
Guardiola they got off a final that will be played by their former coach, always questioned in Paris. Meanwhile, with three days to go before the conclusion of the Flirt
1, the PSG does not depend on himself to win champion in France and will have to wait for a hit from the leader Lille.
Christensen and Rudiger, reborn with him
From his first day in London, the German surprised by betting on a line of five behind that managed to hide the weaknesses and enhance the strengths of a group that it was not exactly characterized by its defensive solidity. Quite the contrary. The centrals were the center of criticism. But with Tuchel on the bench, players like Andreas
Christensen or his compatriot Antonio
Rudiger have recovered their best level and have turned the ‘blue’ into the best defense of the old continent, with the permission of the City.
The data reflects this. Of the 24 matches that have played under the command of the former Borussia
Dortmund, the Blues have cleared their goal in 18 of them, they have won 16 and lost only two, the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions against him Porto (0-1) and before West
Brom (2-5) of Sam
Allardyce last April 3 in Premier.
The comparison with Frank
Lampard, his predecessor at Stamford Bridge, shows a brutal defensive improvement. With English, the Chelsea conceded 32 goals! in 29 games for the only ten they have received with Tuchel.
Some numbers that have placed the Chelsea in the most absolute elite of European football and that strengthen Tuchel as one of the best coaches in the world, the first in the entire history of the European Cup to reach two consecutive finals with two different teams. Take note Al-Khelaïfi.