How pleased are you with that, Graham?
“Yeah, really pleased. The players were tremendous, the supporters were tremendous. You have to be against a team that are doing so well – 10 games on the bounce, winning. But I think over the two games we deserved to go through. I think we played a good game in Dortmund but we didn’t score, but today we did. It was a special night.”
This seemed like a make or break match, is that how you felt, too?
“I don’t really think about it in that way. There are always going to be those types of questions and noise. My job is to help the team, help the players, prepare the team as well as we could and to support them. They’ve been suffering as well. Nobody has enjoyed the run we’ve had. That’s why today was important for us. We wanted to progress, and we have, so we’re happy.”
Did you speak to the owner?
“Yeah I have. He’s still here.”
Just how important was that win and you didn’t watch the penalty?
“To win a game and progress into the last eight of the Champions League, you have to say it’s up there in terms of wins and evenings in my career, for sure. I watched the first penalty and that didn’t work so well. So I thought I’d look at the floor and wait for the crowd to make a noise and thankfully they did. At that point, I can’t do anything. It’s just down to Kai and Kai’s personality and testament and that is obviously at a very high level.”
Marc Cucurella has been booed in the past but tonight he was superb. How pleased are you for him?
“I think he got man of the match, didn’t he? If the result hadn’t gone our way, I’m not sure of the consequences. I’m delighted for him. Obviously when you’re having a bad time like we’ve had then you accept the criticism, you have to deal with it. Marc has dealt with it well. We’ve tried to shield him a little bit and at the same time pick the moment. I thought tonight, regardless of the situation, the crowd were going to get behind us because it’s the Champions League. Tonight, with Benoit not available, I thought he [Cucurella] gave us the left foot and balance in the back-three and thankfully he delivered a top performance.”
Graham, you showed plenty of passion and emotions down on the touchline this evening?
“Yes, of course. It’s an important game, it’s a special atmosphere. It’s a passionate evening. Both sets of supporters contributed to that. Stamford Bridge was rocking and our performance helped that. We pressed high, we tackled, we tried to attack them. Like I said, all of this against a top team.”
What about the character shown by the players?
“It’s not just this evening. We’ve had a tough period. We had to respond against Leeds. We played a good game against Dortmund away but we lost and in the moment we’re in, nobody wants to hear that you’ve played well, had some chances and should’ve scored. We had a poor first-half against Southampton and then it can quickly spiral into another unpleasant situation. Everybody had to stick together and the players have done that in an incredible way. A big thanks to the supporters. They were amazing tonight and they were amazing on Saturday.”
Do you feel like tonight’s a bit of a turning point? Also you’ve had a little slice of luck with their injuries…
“I think the supporters have been really fair with us. [The] supporters care, so when the results aren’t what they want, they feel pain. They have to articulate that pain somehow, to get rid of it, and whether that’s at me or whoever it is, we all know in this job that is what happens. They’ve been really supportive, they really have. They’ve stuck with the team and helped us on the pitch. Rightly so, when we haven’t performed the way we should, they’ve let their feelings known and that’s fair enough. You always need a bit of luck, as much as we think we’re these talented coaches and talented players. I would say before the World Cup, we had nine players out. If you have no Reece James, no N’Golo Kante, no Wesley Fofana, no Ben Chilwell, no Loftus-Cheek, no Sterling – these players are important for us as well. Tonight they had some players missing and that goes in our favour. I’m not going to complain about that at all.”
Graham, how do you explain your Champions League form compared to your Premier League form?
“They’re two different competitions and it’s not for the want of trying. Sometimes you’re playing every four days and the reality was, certainly in the autumn, was continual injuries and problems to stop us being really stable and that probably affected our Premier League form. Since the break, we’ve been trying to integrate new players and get players up to speed as they recover from injury. All those things have made it a tough period. It’s important for us to be in the last eight and I’m delighted with everybody connected to the club that we’ve done that.”
Does tonight feel like everything you’ve gone through, does it almost feel worth it?
“Well, I don’t know if ‘worth it’ is the right way to look at it. Inevitably, in life, you’re going to have bad times and good times. I don’t see any other way to look at it. It’s how you react to the bad times, get some perspective and analyse it in the correct way. Things are never bad forever but it felt like that sometimes!”
