Thomas Tuchel proud of ‘brave’ Chelsea vs Atletico but rues loss of suspended duo Jorginho and Mason Mount

The Blues are 1-0 up in their round-of-16 tie, but Jorginho and Mason Mount will miss the second leg

Thomas Tuchel admits Chelsea will be without two ‘crucial’ players for the second leg of their Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid, with Mason Mount and Jorginho suspended.

Chelsea lead the tie 1-0 after Olivier Giroud’s winner in Bucharest on Tuesday, but bookings for Mount and Jorginho mean Tuchel will have to alter his plans for the return fixture.

Tuchel said: “We will miss two crucial players, it makes things not easy for us. But I am very happy with the performance of everybody, that includes Mason of course.

“Again, a good effort, a big effort, high work-rate, high intensity like we are used to when he plays like this. He has a big impact on our team.

“Honestly, we now play Man Utd, Everton, Liverpool and Leeds, it is good like this. We cannot get comfortable, we cannot get lazy. These games will push us to our limits, then we will think about our solutions for the second leg.”

Jorginho will miss the second leg along with Mason Mount
AFP via Getty Images

Tuchel hailed his side’s performance against La Liga leaders Atletico: “I am super happy for my players and the team for such a big reward.

“We actually can read it on the score line that we have the result against top opponents. It was very important that we are absolutely concentrated over all 96 minutes.

“That we also accept that it’s very hard to create chances, but we did all that and it was a very good team effort.”

He added on BT Sport: “We wanted to dominate in the opponents’ half, to never lose concentration, not to do any easy mistakes and always be aware of quick counter-attacks for all their quality.

AFP via Getty Images

“It was a very disciplined performance - a deserved shut-out. This is the hard work, a team effort - the basis for a big win.

“We wanted to be brave and play in their half.

“We knew they were ready to suffer with eight people in the box. The intention was to keep the intensity high. This is what we did very good. We never let them breathe or come out for counter-attacks. We have a big reward with this result.

“This is one of the toughest challenges to open a defence like Atletico.”

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