With Chelsea becoming a member of Tuchel’s strategies, there is no such thing as a telling how far he can get with the blues

LONDON – Thomas Tuchel described a squad last week that Frank Lampard often lamented for being too tall to be “the perfect size” and it was here that Chelsea showed why his opinion weighs more heavily. The Blues reach their first quarter-finals in the Champions League since 2014 with a 2-0 win (3-0 overall) against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Tuchel is ultimately judged by the cutlery he delivers to Stamford Bridge, so it’s too early to declare his appointment an unqualified success, but arguably more than they’d hoped, a European heavyweight with one Post conviction at the beginning of his reign. While there is some debate these days about the strength of the league, Atletico Madrid are the best team in Spain right now, led by a manager in Diego Simeone who knows how to create a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. But he was outmaneuvered in both legs, and Tuchel reaped the reward for the buy-in he had apparently received from the entire first-team group.

Olivier Giroud was used in the first game to disrupt Atletico’s notoriously rigid defense. He scored a brilliant away goal that forced Atletico to take a more offensive approach to save the tie. Tuchel therefore decided to start Timo Werner with Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech in close support from the middle in order to take advantage of Atletico in anticipation of this style change during the break. The plan worked perfectly.

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Werner’s difficulties at the gate are well documented, but his application under Tuchel cannot be questioned. He has responded to Tuchel’s regular public defense of his scoring record – two in his last 27 games – by showing great care to relentlessly push from the front to deflect Kieran Trippier’s 34th-minute cross and gain possession for the opening goal .

N’Golo Kante headed the looping ball to Kai Havertz, who released Werner and now sprinted in the other direction. He had a good time for Ziyech, scoring his first goal in 19 games, just behind Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

It was significant that this was the first time Havertz, Werner and Ziyech started a game under Tuchel. The game situation may have dictated their selection to some extent, but Giroud, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi were all available and it will do Tuchel considerable credit with the Chelsea hierarchy, a home for all three offensive signings the club’s finding out of the £ 220 million spending spree last summer.

Mason Mount and Jorginho were both suspended, but Kante proved why he deserves to be on a grid with a calmly devastating performance and chased tirelessly to turn the midfield fight in favor of the home team.

Thomas Tuchel really got Chelsea’s money’s worth and their unbeaten run under his leadership has reached 13 games. BEN STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images

At the rear, Andreas Christensen was unable to recover from his illness in time, but Kurt Zouma stepped in alongside Antonio Rüdiger and Cesar Azpilicueta with an outstanding performance. It is a testament to the defensive resilience that Tuchel has put in place – another notable contrast to Lampard’s regime – that her solidity appears to exist regardless of the staff: chalk up a staggering eleventh goal from his 13 unbeaten games.

The feeling that Tuchel had led his squad expertly had the perfect coda. The Blues head coach has regularly cited the impact Pulisic can have off the bench and in added time, and the U.S. international sped forward during the break before executing a perfectly tuned pass for his substitute colleague Emerson Palmieri, who is only his second Goal for the club scored and his first since September 2018.

Mount, Thiago Silva and Jorginho did their best to echo the reaction of absent fans by celebrating in the stands with a triple hug, further illustrating the unity that Tuchel has produced.

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“The amount of effort, intensity and teamwork in both legs was absolutely incredible, excellent,” said Tuchel after the game. “We missed four or five key players today and everyone else has stepped up with great support from the bench, great support from the stands and the injured lads. That’s what I feel. The lads are absolutely reliable. The effort and intensity is there It’s hard, hard teamwork.

“From the first moment I felt part of a family and a well-structured club.”

Chelsea were lucky on their side, it must be said. Azpilicueta appeared to be pulling on Yannick Carrasco’s shirt after missing a back pass against goalkeeper Edouard Mendy 0-0 that night. Carrasco looked for the foul, but Azpilicueta took an unnecessary risk and was lucky enough to have VAR appear in an unforgiving mood.

It remains to be seen how far Tuchel can take Chelsea. The high turnover of managers in this club makes it difficult to suspend cynicism for too long. But at the moment he seems to be getting the best out of the squad that he couldn’t help shape its composition.

And nobody could ask for more.