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Thomas Tuchel praised an excellent team effort after Chelsea took control of their Champions League tie against Atlético de Madrid thanks to an impressive away goal from Olivier Giroud.
Chelsea dominated the first leg in Bucharest, where the match was played due to Covid-19 restrictions, and has a strong chance of advancing past the knockout stages for the first time since 2014 after a VAR review showed that Giroud’s aerial kick was offside. Although Mason Mount and Jorginho will be suspended for the return leg on March 17, Tuchel could celebrate his most impressive victory since he replaced Frank Lampard last month.
“I’m not proud because I have nothing to do with it,” said the Chelsea manager. “I am very happy for my players and for the team that we have such a great reward and that we can read it on the scoreboard. It was very important that we are absolutely focused during the 96 minutes and that we accept that it is very difficult to create chances. We did all that and it was a very good team effort ”.
Tuchel highlighted Giroud’s professionalism after the 34-year-old was unable to come off the bench during Chelsea’s draw with Southampton last Saturday.
“If you see it daily, you can’t be surprised,” said the German. “He is totally fit, his body is fit and mentally I really have the feeling that he enjoys every day being a professional footballer at this level. Train like a 24-year-old. “The only disappointments for Chelsea were that Jorginho and Mount received yellow cards for a foul on João Felix.
“It makes things not easy for us,” Tuchel said. “But honestly now we play Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool and Leeds. We cannot be too comfortable, we cannot be lazy. These games will push us to the limit and then we will think of solutions for the second game against Atlético ”.
Giroud was delighted with his goal. “We came here with strong intentions to win, we analyzed their game and we knew how we could give them problems,” said the forward. “We have been very strong behind. We had the best chances, a deserved victory.
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“We know the importance of home goals. We handle the game well. We face a great team. We were very engaged. We just needed to maintain trust. I don’t know what to think of the goal. I just try to focus on hitting the ball well. I love the kicks from above. “
