Micah Richards believes Chelsea are ‘dark horses’ in the Champions League after being proved wrong by Thomas Tuchel.
Former Manchester City and England defender Richards conceded he was disappointed by Chelsea’s decision to sack Frank Lampard in the January window and felt it was a mistake.
But Chelsea have thrived since former PSG and Borussia Dortmund manager Tuchel arrived at the club, winning ten of their 14 games in all competitions.
The blues are in pole position to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League, while they will also be favourites to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League ahead of their quarter-final clash with Porto.
‘Chelsea are dark horses you know,’ Richards told Super 6 podcast. ‘I did a piece a couple of months ago saying it’s a disgrace that Frank Lampard is out the door. And then Tuchel comes in and I was like, “how’s that? No!”
‘But actually look at them now. They’ve only conceded like two or three goals. They’ve got Porto next and then Real Madrid or Liverpool. Neither of them are playing that well and then next thing, they’re in the final!’
Chelsea were able to avoid Liverpool and Manchester City – and European giants Bayern Munich and PSG – in the Champions League quarter-final draw.
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But Tuchel has warned his side not to belittle Porto, telling reporters last month: ‘First of all I’m happy we play an international game not against English team because Champions League is about that as I always prefer to play teams from other countries.
‘Then we have a second leg at home which feels good, to start with an away game and then maybe the slight advantage to finish at home.
‘Clearly many people will maybe now make us favourites against Porto that will not help us because you can ask in Turin their opinion about whether it helps you to be favourites.
‘It does not help you but we are self confident and that is strongly connected with our performances.
‘We are confident that we face a strong opponent that we face with all the respect but now that we are in quarter-final we think about how to win it and the only thing we focus on is to reach the semi-final and we are confident enough that we see our chances.’
