Mateo Kovacic
Chelsea’s Champions League final squad confirmed
Thomas Tuchel has named his 25-man squad for the trip to Portugal to face Manchester City in the Champions League final. Our head coach looks set to have a full squad to choose from in Porto, with his 25 players flying to Portugal today ahead of Saturday’s final, following N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy’s return to training yesterday after picking up injuries in our last two Premier League fixtures. ‘N’Golo is looking good and I hope he stays like that for Saturday,’ said Tuchel. ‘Edou made a huge improvement with the management of pain from when the injury happened, which is good. We hope to have him back. If he is fit, then Edou will play.’ Chelsea squad listed below in squad number order Kepa Arrizabalaga Antonio Rudiger Marcos Alonso Andreas Christensen Jorginho Thiago Silva N’Golo Kan...
Thomas Tuchel confirms double Chelsea injury blow, discusses Gilmour’s playing prospects
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed a double injury blow for the Blues ahead of the Premier League meeting against Fulham on Saturday. Mateo Kovacic has been absent for the past five games with a hamstring injury, and he has now suffered a setback in training before the London derby. Speaking in a press conference, Tuchel confirmed Kovacic’s absence and said that he could be doubtful for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid. Rudiger also won’t feature against the Cottagers after picking up a knock in Madrid. However, Tuchel was optimistic about the centre-back’s availability for the return leg. He told Chelseafc.com: “Unfortunately, he’s still injured. He trained with us, but he’s still not fully confident. He felt something at the end of the tr...
Thomas Tuchel confirms double Chelsea injury blow ahead of Manchester City clash
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that the club will be without Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen for the FA Cup semi-final tie against Manchester City on Saturday. The Blues recently suffered a 1-0 defeat to Porto in the Champions League, but they still progressed to the last four of the elite competition after a 2-1 aggregate triumph. They are scheduled to face the Cityzens at Wembley Stadium tomorrow, and Tuchel has confirmed that Kovacic and Christensen have been ruled out with injuries. Christensen has been unavailable since the 3-1 league win over Crystal Palace last weekend with a knock. Kovacic suffered a hamstring injury before the Porto clash. Tuchel told football.london: “We have the green light for N’Golo (Kante) because we’ve had three days. Mateo Kovacic is out ...
Thomas Tuchel appointed new Chelsea manager
Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as the club’s new manager. The Blues moved swiftly to bring in the German following the decision to sack Frank Lampard on Monday. The 47-year-old will be charged with the task of reviving the fortunes of a side sat in ninth in the Premier League table, with Champions League qualification the likely target for the remainder of the season. Tuchel, who was sacked as coach of Paris Saint-Germain in December, has signed an 18-month contract, with the option of a further year in west London. His predecessor, Lampard, had been handed a three-year contract when the Blues legend was appointed Chelsea boss in the summer of 2019 following a season in charge of Championship side Derby County. When will Tuchel take charge of his first game? Tuchel...
Gareth Bale: Real Madrid blocked my return to Premier League
Gareth Bale has accused Real Madrid of making it “very difficult” to leave the Spanish club as the Wales forward looks to end his Bernabeu exile. Bale is out of favour with Real manager Zinedine Zidane and played just 48 minutes of Madrid’s 12 games when the Spanish season resumed after the coronavirus lockdown. Zidane, who has feuded with Bale throughout his two spells in charge, said the winger did not want to play in last season’s Champions League last-16 second-leg tie at Manchester City. Bale has two years left on his Real contract, but there appears little chance he will force his way into the manager’s plans. The 31-year-old almost joined Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning in 2019 before Real pulled the plug on the deal, a decision that still irks Bale. “I think the club needs...
