Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed what happened during a training ground bust-up involving Antonio Rüdiger and Kepa Arrizabalaga on Sunday.
The Blues fell to an embarrassing 5-2 defeat to West Brom on Saturday, with Thiago Silva sent-off for a second bookable offence in the 29th minute.
It was then reported on Sunday that defender Rudiger and goalkeeper Kepa had fallen out in training, leading to a bust-up.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has now spoken about the incident, claiming neither player will be punished.
“It had nothing to do with defeat,” Tuchel explained, as quoted by the Evening Standard on Tuesday.
“It was an incident in training and got heated up with Toni and Kepa. We calmed the situation down. These are things we don’t want to accept, but they can happen.
“Things got a little too heated and the reaction was not OK, but the reaction after was fantastic. They cleared the air immediately, and nothing left the day after.
“They sorted it in a very honest, humble and direct way, which showed me they have good character.
“No punishment so far because of the way they dealt with it. The reaction was an immediate reaction. They made it clear for everybody what happened.
“Toni sorted it immediately which was the right, strong thing to do. We are happy with how they dealt with it. There is no further punishment.”
SL View – Can Chelsea bounce back against Porto?
The defeat on Saturday certainly would have hurt.
Chelsea looked simply unbeatable in the run-up to that game, with not a single defeat in the 15 matches prior.
A defeat would have stung regardless, but the way they were beaten was embarrassing, to say the least.
Thankfully, they will have an immediate opportunity to bounce back when they face off against Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Portuguese giants stunned Juventus in the previous round, winning the tie on away goals after a thrilling 3-2 defeat in the second leg.
Chelsea cannot afford to be complacent against a team that has already achieved so much in this year’s competition, but after being humbled by West Brom you can expect the Blues to be plenty motivated for this fixture.
Read: Champions League 2020/21 Quarter-Finals: Fixtures, TV Schedule, Live Stream & Preview.
