Chelsea open their UEFA Champions League campaign tonight against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb. The Blues will travel to Croatia on the back of a gutsy victory over West Ham United, which was also marked by a controversial VAR call. Nonetheless, Thomas Tuchel will have enough to inspire his boys to go all out against Zagreb and get a dominating win. Ahead of the trip, the German has also provided an update on new signings and some key injury issues.
Tuchel, in his pre-match presser talked about the injuries and availability of new signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria, while explaining the exclusion of center-back Thiago Silva. Aubameyang and Zakaria were signed in the deadline day as the Blues desperately searched for a striker and a midfielder. The Chelsea gaffer has now revealed whether or not the two will feature against Zagreb.
Thomas Tuchel explains the situations of Aubameyang, Zakaria and Silva
Thomas Tuchel has been reunited with arguably his most favourite striker he has ever worked with in Aubameyang. The two worked together at Borussia Dortmund for two seasons, which saw the striker amass 79 goals in just 95 appearances. The 33-year-old will now hope to give his beloved manager much-needed firepower up front, which was missing.
Talking about the availabilities of Aubameyang and Zakaria, who was acquired on loan [with option to buy] from Juventus, Thomas Tuchel said:
“We had the opportunity to take everyone who was in training and available to Zagreb to do our last training. That includes Denis [Zakaria] and Auba [Aubameyang]. He had a test with his mask, felt fine, trained normal. If everything goes well today they will both be available.
“He’s [Aubameyang] very ambitious, very focused. He’s hungry to play for us and prove a point. That’s why he’s here, that’s what we felt from the first moment. He is happily invited to prove a point tomorrow. If there will come an issue today we will not put him, of course. There was no issue yesterday. I hope there will not be an issue today. Is he ready to start? Of course. He cannot play 90 minutes. It’s on us to take a decision on how we manage the minutes. He needs minutes to get his full fitness and rhythm. It’s on us to find a solution if he comes from the bench or if he starts.”
The German further explained the case of veteran defender Thiago Silva, who has been left out of the travelling squad. He said:
“We decided with Thiago [Silva] that he will have a break from the travelling and the stress after playing every minute so far in very intense matches. It was the moment to give him a break instead of putting him on the bench and having the travel issues. He takes care of his recovery.”
Chelsea are striving for consistency in the Premier League, but will hope to gain some confidence from a dominating win against a low-key Dinamo Zagreb. But the Croatian side too can pose a threat to the Blue since they are enjoying a stellar domestic run, having won seven of their eight league games so far, scoring 27 goals.