Thomas Tuchel has praised both Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta as Chelsea continue to prepare for the new season. The defensive duo are yet to return to training after reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020 with Denmark and Spain respectively but the Blues boss has said plenty about their performance in the competition and what they bring to his side. Christensen had a fantastic tournament despite having to overcome a traumatic experience in Denmark’s opening clash with Finland after Christian Eriksen sadly collapsed in the 41st minute of the tie. Thankfully, the former Tottenham creative is recovering well, and the Danish team went onto make him proud by reaching the penultimate stage of the competition before eventually being knocked out by England. Tuchel believes Christensen’s response to the situation emphasises how strong his mentality is and shows that he is an incredibly ‘intelligent’ person.
Thomas Tuchel said: “I know his [Christensen] coach a little bit as he was also coach at Mainz, Kasper Hjulmand, and I know Andreas of course very well. So I could suggest that they would deal with it – of course nobody wants to deal with it – but if you have to deal with it, that he’s in good hands. And if you know the Danish mentality to put things into context, with a very intelligent approach to life also, and a very human approach to life, I was sure that they would do it in the best possible way. I was happy that they could turn things around and I was happy, of course, that Christian Eriksen was back out of hospital soon. Of course, that made it very special for them. Andreas’ performances after that were amazing, like they were for us, and he was a big part of a successful team.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s boss has also labelled his club captain as someone you can rely upon after he played for Spain for the first time in over two years.
Thomas Tuchel added: “He is such a reliable guy.“Everybody can be so proud that we have him as our captain. He has everything you want from a captain. And I was sure if they select him, whatever the situation will be, you can rely on him and he will give 100%. When I knew he will play in the last group game and I saw that it was a decisive game, I thought yeah, he is the guy you want to have on the pitch because he can deliver under pressure. This is what he does and this is what he’s used to doing. He’s a fantastic team player.”
The two still have an extra few days holiday left before they have to return to Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham but Tuchel will be pleased to see them fully rested ahead of what promises to be an exciting season in west London.
