Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has explained why he subbed off Timo Werner and Kai Havertz during Chelsea’s Champions League win over Porto.
The Premier League club earned a first-leg quarter-final away victory over Porto on Wednesday thanks to goals from Mason Mount and Chilwell.
The blues fully deserved their win but it was another frustrating evening for Werner and Havertz, who were both replaced by Tuchel in the second-half of the game.
‘At the time I accepted that it was a tough match for Timo and Kai today, they didn’t have their best day,’ Tuchel said after the 2-0 win.
‘We did not deliver so good so the connection between the seven and the front three wasn’t there. The balls we delivered weren’t the best balls.
‘Also, I could feel that our two German players, Kai and Timo, didn’t play at their highest level so I wanted to have an impact from the bench.’
‘Christian [Pulisic] has good momentum and Oli [Giroud] had good experienced and memories of the stadium. We wanted to keep going in the match,’ he added.
‘It’s very hard that once you lead, you play with the mentality of not losing what you had and keeping what you have. We wanted to win the next half, the next duel and to try and score the next goal.
‘The best way to defend is to attack, to have more possession and to have courage. I am happy with the impact from our substitutes today.
‘It’s absolutely necessary that we have this bond between the players and impact from the bench. We are super happy because the job is half done, but we need another top performance next week.’
Goalscorer Mount said after the victory: ‘We knew it would be a tough game. We kept going, we got the goal in the first half and the second secured a good win.
‘It’s only half the tie, there’s a second leg to go. The job’s not done. They’ll fight for the next leg and we’ll have to give it our all. We’ll be ready.’
