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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has reflected on the “dark place” in which a loss to Manchester United placed him during his time at Paris Saint-Germain.
The German will face a familiar foe in the form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, live Sky sports, in what will be his fifth meeting with the former Red Devils forward in just over two years.
It remains an honor even between Tuchel and the Norwegian with two wins apiece, but one defeat in particular in the Champions League proved difficult for the 47-year-old to swallow.
After a 2-0 win at Old Trafford in the first leg of the round of 16 on 12 February 2019, PSG were stunned at Parc des Princes three weeks later when they conceded a penalty in stoppage time to suffer a 3-1 loss. and leave the competition for goals at home.
Marcus Rashford’s stoppage time penalty at Parc des Princes in March 2019 saw Manchester United advance through the Champions League in away goals at the expense of PSG
Tuchel said: “I can be very honest, after that game I was two days in a very dark place and I can tell you that I couldn’t talk to anyone and think about anything other than this defeat.”
“That was perhaps the worst defeat I experienced because it came out of nowhere. It was, in a way, under the circumstances that it came in. I was in a dark place for two days for a coach.”
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It remains the only time the former Borussia Dortmund head coach has felt this low after a result, but he admitted it turned out to be a crucial learning experience.
PSG was able to bounce back and win the Ligue title 1 months later. In the following European campaign, they almost completed the final redemption, but lost to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final last August.
“I didn’t experience anything like this ever again or before,” Tuchel revealed.
Tuchel says the defeat to Manchester United when the PSG manager left him in a ‘dark place’
“It was in the circumstances, in this game, in how we got there, in the pressure on the club for the round of 16, the previous history and the result of the first game and the way the second game was with the VAR decision. In the last minute.
“It was like it came out of nowhere and that’s why this blow was hard to bear. But, like I said, I was in a dark place for two days but then we gave the players two days off and I think that was the best for everyone. .
Tuchel faced Manchester United four times as PSG coach
After that, it’s like this in sports, it can teach you that you have to get up and accept that sometimes a defeat is necessary to grow and develop and to ask yourself decisive questions.
“That can hurt and the payoff was a year later, it was almost the perfect payoff when we got to the final and we came a long way for that. It was through adversity and it’s often said that it makes you stronger.”
Sacked by PSG in December and appointed by Chelsea a month later, one of Tuchel’s main short-term goals is to ensure the Blues are back in the Champions League next season.
The victory over United would reduce the gap between the teams to three points and the experienced coach refused to downplay the importance of the match.
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FREE TO SEE: Highlights of Southampton’s draw with Chelsea in the Premier League.
Unbeaten in eight games since replacing Frank Lampard, the German conceded like most of the industry, he doesn’t take defeats well.
Tuchel added: “Am I a good loser? So then. Maybe not that much, but show me a good loser at this level and winning drives us forward.
“Winning drives this club and winning drives this dressing room, so we are all competitors and we are all out there to win and this is the challenge.
“Everything else at first is hard to accept. Sometimes it’s easier, sometimes worse, but I’d love to turn it around.
“We love competition and we love winning and we love a good fight and this is what we hope to achieve on Sunday.”
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