As Olivier Giroud made the most of a defensive error and lodged in an acrobatic masterpiece, Chelsea edged Atletico Madrid by a single goal in what was a tight affair in Romania.
Although Tuchel was impressed with his side’s resilient showing, he warned them of complacency – more so for the second leg which sees the likes of midfield runners Jorginho & Mason Mount suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Speaking after the encounter to Chelsea TV, he said:
“I’m super happy for the players and for my team that we have such a big reward for a top performance. It was very important that we were absolutely concentrated for all 96 minutes, that we accepted also that it is very hard to create chances, but we did that.
We’ll be missing Mount & Jorginho in the next leg, that makes it not easy for us.”
His Blues await a list of high-profile encounters in the Premier League, beginning with Manchester United, and he made his thoughts known on the upcoming fixtures.
“Honestly now we play Man U, Liverpool, Everton & Leeds and we cannot get too comfortable and we cannot get lazy. These games will push us to our limits and then we will think about solutions for the second game against Atletico,” he said.
Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Atletico sees Tuchel’s unbeaten run of form extend to eight games across all competitions.
