Thomas Tuchel has admitted he will have to make a late decision on star man N’Golo Kante’s availability against Porto on Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel says he will not risk playing N’Golo Kante in the second leg of Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final against Porto unless the midfielder proves he is 100 percent fit.
The Frenchman sustained a hamstring injury during the recent international break with France and has only made two substitute appearances for Chelsea since, due to a lack of fitness.
Tuchel is keen to have Kante in his starting line-up as Chelsea aim to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2014. However, he says he will not risk causing another setback for the midfielder despite the importance of the game.
“First of all, I was unbelievably happy when he came with us last week [for the first leg] because I didn’t expect it,” Tuchel said to the club’s website ahead of their return leg against Porto in Seville.
“He was confident enough to return earlier, to help us in the last 15 minutes.”
“But the downside of this situation was that he lost a little bit of sleep after the travel issues, had less work in training because he was sitting on the bench and only playing 20 minutes.”
“And the next day he suffered from travelling and could not train like he normally trains.”
“We decided to play him from the bench against Palace but honestly, the decision I will make tomorrow morning when I see him in training then we will look at the others and how they feel.”
Chelsea are in a commanding position in the tie having won the away first leg 2-0 against Porto, but Tuchel insists he will not set his side out to protect their lead because he believes that will only prove to invite pressure from their opponents.
He added: “We have to accept against Porto that the game will be up and down. In some instances we controlled the match, created half chances, good counter-pressing but then in some minutes they escaped the pressure.”
“Sometimes they overload sides and give you a lot of questions. In the first leg we experienced up and downs, then the momentum shifted, this is what you have to accept against them.”
“For us it is important that we focus on us, play the best game possible as this increases the chances to have a result.”
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