Thomas Tuchel’s team selections quite often raise eyebrows, and tonight’s effort is no exception.
Chelsea are taking on Real Madrid in the Champions League semi final, the perfect platform for a rogue choice.
The one that attracted a lot of attention was Cesar Azpilicueta playing at right wing back, meaning that Reece James is out of the team again. It’s a system that was trialled against West Ham at the weekend, and in quotes picked up by Simon Johnson of the Athletic, Tuchel said tonight’s lineup was just a case of keeping that good form going.
Tuchel on #CFC selection: “We were just happy [with West Ham display] & we had to make tough choices. It was a close one to leave Hakim Ziyech out because he deserved to play as he was very decisive in the last games…
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) April 27, 2021
He also named one player he thought was hard done by – Hakim Ziyech. He said “it was a close one” to leave him out, but Christian Pulisic got the nod in the end.
We’re not sure it was that hard a call – Ziyech hasn’t been that great, and we trust Tuchel’s call in any case.
