Thomas Tuchel kept in touch with Chelsea assistant Zsolt Low as he gave the coach instructions during their Club World Cup semi-final 1-0 victory over Al-Hilal.
The Blues booked their spot in Saturday’s final against Brazilian team Palmeiras with a 1-0 win over the Saudi Arabian club through Romelu Lukaku’s strike.
Chelsea are currently without manager Tuchel, who has been unable to join his team in Abu Dhabi after testing positive for coronavirus.
But he was still able to give his instructions at the break over the phone, requesting his players slow down the frantic pace of the match in the early stages.
‘We talked to Thomas at half-time. We had a good conversation and he had the same feeling as us that we were a bit nervous and had a lot of easy ball losses,’ Low said.
‘We talked about it at half-time and tried to prepare for the guys to calm down and play with a better rhythm, and not fight so hard for difficult solutions. ‘We had a good conversation with Thomas and it helped the team.’
The London side are chasing a first Club World Cup trophy but will need to improve on their display if they are to overcome the Brazilian outfit. The Blues were on the back foot for much of the second half and had to rely on Kepa to keep them in the clash.
‘We worked very hard, but we missed a little bit of freedom and rhythm,’ said Low. ‘We started a little bit nervously and didn’t do the easy things. We fought hard to find a solution on the pitch, but we didn’t find it easy.
‘To get to the final of this competition is very important for the club. We have never won it and that’s why the players felt the pressure, but they did very well to not concede and we had opportunities to score a second goal.’
It’s unclear if Tuchel will be able to travel to Abu Dhabi in time for Saturday for now but Low says the German coach is continuing to isolate and taking tests every day in the hope he can.
‘We hope Thomas can travel as soon as possible. As I said before he’ll follow government rules. He’s in isolation now and doing a covid PCR test every day,’ he added.
‘Once he tests negative it opens the possibility to travel. Every day we wait for it. We wish he can come to enjoy the final.’
