Perfect Boss! As Tuchel kept his Sergio Ramos promise for Chelsea fans
Following the 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Real Madrid in the first leg in Spain, Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane was keen to see Sergio Ramos return for the second leg.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel seemed prepared for the Spain centre-back, and jokingly said he’d play without a striker.
Many had thought Tuchel joked about his comments, and many saw it that way. It was expected that Timo Werner would lead the line, and Christian Pulisic will play behind him. However, Tuchel ended up playing without a recognised striker upfront, as Kai Havertz started as a false nine.
Tuchel told the media before the game: “If we play with no striker at all and Ramos has nothing to fight then that can also be a solution. I have not made my mind up yet.
“It’s another challenge because he is the leader of their group and he is the guy to give a lot of solutions to any questions that we will hopefully ask them. We will wait and see who is in good shape and good form, what shape we play and where we try to hurt them.
“I’m not too sure if they will play again with five or go back to four [in defence] so there are many questions but we don’t need the answers now. It’s enough if we have them on Wednesday.”
Tuchel kept his words, and Sergio Ramos didn’t see who to fight against. He was hit all over the place by Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Mason Mount all in top gear. By the time Pulisic came on in the second half, it was to devastating effect, as the American star ripped open the Real Madrid defence anytime he touched the ball.