Thomas Tuchel: Chelsea reaching Champions League semi-finals ‘a great achievement’

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said reaching the last four of the Champions League is a “great achievement” as the Blues moved into the semi-finals for the first time since 2014.

Chelsea will play either Liverpool or Real Madrid for a place in the final after a 2-1 aggregate win over Porto.

“We will become a strong side,” he told BT Sport after his team lost the second leg 1-0 in injury time.

“We could not finish it off with a goal so we had to hang in there.”

Chelsea were ninth in the Premier League when Tuchel arrived in January but he has guided them to within a point of the top four, the FA Cup semi-finals and now into a Champions League semi-final despite Mehdi Taremi’s superb late winner in Seville, which hosted both legs of the tie because of coronavirus restrictions.

Tuchel was a beaten finalist with Paris St-Germain last year and would not be drawn on whether he would rather face Liverpool or Real – who have a 3-1 first-leg advantage.

“In general I like not to play against teams from your same league in the Champions League as it gives more of a feeling of a European competition but that is the only thing,” he said.

“The Liverpool tie is far from over but I will watch it for sure.

“It is a pleasure to watch it as a semi-finalist, which is a great achievement. We will watch these games and everything is possible. Liverpool are very strong at home so we take what we get. It is a good situation for us.”

Source: BBC Sports