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Tuchel lists Chelsea flaws that led to loss against Juventus

Thomas Tuchel - Chelsea
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The Blues had the ball for large spells but struggled in the final third of the pitch and ultimately had to return empty-handed from Turin.

Chelsea lacked sharpness, were ineffective at creating chances, and were careless at times when in possession, suggested Thomas Tuchel looking back at his side’s defeat against Juventus.

Wojciech Szczesny hardly had anything to do as he was called into action only once, that too for a tame Romelu Lukaku effort, as Chelsea managed just a single shot on target in the 90 minutes.

A sole goal from Federico Chiesa was enough for Juventus, who were solid at the back, to snatch all three points and rise to the top of the Champions League Group H.

Chelsea’s performance on Wednesday night was not up to their usual high standards, and Tuchel admits the opponents’ style of play was detrimental to theirs.

“We had a lot of possession but we did not start sharp enough,” the Blues boss told at his post-match press conference.

“In the first 15 minutes or so, we had plenty of opportunities to counter and put the rhythm on the opponents much, much higher in the pitch and in dangerous parts. We needed to ask much more questions than we did tonight.

“We gave away two crucial ball possessions that could have hurt us and we can’t have this at this level. They were so deep and so passive and we struggled to find our rhythm and apply our intensity.

“It was slow in our decision-making and we lacked that sharpness. We didn’t look fresh today and that surprised me in the moment because yesterday in training we looked sharp.”

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