Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel says the 2020/2021 UEFA Champions League is now “anyone’s competition” to win.
After leading the London side to the semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory over FC Porto, Tuchel is keeping his fingers crossed.
FC Porto won the second leg 1-0 on Tuesday but it was not enough to overturn Chelsea’s 2-0 first-leg victory.
Chelsea will play either Liverpool or Real Madrid in the semi-finals, while Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will meet either Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund.
As Chelsea prepare for their eighth Champions League semi-final – the most of any English club – Tuchel told reporters: “We’re in the competition and in the semi-finals, and it is anyone’s competition.
“In the semi-finals, you need players (to be) fit, momentum, luck in the games.”
The German added: “It is a very big achievement. You (can) see when Chelsea were last in the semi-finals.
“We are not used to being there. Once you are there, you play for the final. This is clear.”
Chelsea will be appearing in their first Champions League semi-finals since 2013/2014 with a younger brigade of players compared to their upcoming opponents.
“When you look on the scoresheet last week, you saw two players [Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell] who scored their first goals in the competition,” Tuchel said.
“When you look at Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, [Karim] Benzema or [Mohamed] Salah score, it is their 50th or 100th goal or something. We arrived with a very young team.
“We want a young team to turn it around. What a young team can do is run, fight and hang in there. It is an adventure for them. It is a big step to be here.”(Dpa/NAN)