Chelsea came from a goal down to shock the runaway Premier League leaders 2-1 at the Etihad stadium.
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Thomas Tuchel was happy with Chelsea’s reaction after going behind against Manchester City. The Blues produced an impressive second half comeback to shock the runaway Premier League leaders 2-1 at the Etihad stadium on Saturday. As a result City have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the trophy. Chelsea also conceded a penalty in the first half but Edouard Mendy saved Sergio Aguero’s attempted panenka spot-kick.
“We were lucky it did not take too much to come back and stay in the match, because we were lucky not to be 2-0 down,” admitted Tuchel afterwards. “It was not a tactical problem or a big drama in the first half, it was three or four minutes, one situation where Andreas slipped and we conceded. That can happen. Then suddenly we were one man down and at this moment we lost a little bit of the structure and concede a very harsh decision.”
Tuchel then went on to open up about the half time team talks. “Could we have lost the game in these four minutes? Yes. Would it have been deserved? No. I am very happy Mendy kept us in the game. At half-time we said let’s continue like it is 0-0 and not lose our heads because of the last three minutes. From there we could go and step up and try and play with courage, have more possession and more possession in their half. This is what the guys did.”
“The momentum changed completely with the goal. I could feel everybody were growing in confidence. We played with more and more quality and pressure. We never stopped attacking. It’s a huge win, a big reaction and a fantastic team performance in the second half in the context we had one less day to recover, it was away, and we had a big win against Real Madrid. That had a huge impact mentally so that was a fantastic reaction from the boys.”
After booking their Champions League final spot with a 3-1 aggregate win against Real Madrid, Chelsea continued the impressive streak to beat City. It is it be noted that last month the Blues had beaten Man City in the FA Cup semifinals and these two will again compete in an all England Champions League final.
“It’s best to have consecutive good performances that lead to results. Everyone in the dressing room is super tired. Everybody out there gave his last drop of intensity and work-rate,” he added. “These experiences and these big games are what you need to really strengthen your bond.”
“The group and the players do everything to force the luck on our side, and we caught the momentum to have another big win. It increases our self-confidence in a natural and healthy way, because everybody knows we have to restart on Wednesday.”
