Having rotated his selection heavily ahead of today’s final group game in the Champions League, Thomas Tuchel explained why he has made eight changes from the starting line-up against West Ham last weekend.
On his selection to take on Zenit in St Petersburg, which includes several players not used regularly recently, Tuchel said:
‘We rely on everybody, we have a strong squad and we have a good group so there are several reasons why we do it.
‘We felt our guys lately are a bit over-played, a little mentally and physically fatigued, we have the next match on Saturday so it is the moment to give the responsibility and to trust them, because we want to compete physically against Zenit and we want to play with high intensity and high rhythm, and for this we need fresh legs.’
柔道龍虎榜2021-12-09 01:40:28
Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner start up front.
‘Romelu and Timo need minutes,’ explained the boss. ‘Kai was very strong in the last games but he played several games so it is not a problem for him to have a pause.’
柔道龍虎榜2021-12-09 01:41:46
On the threat from Zenit, this is how Tuchel sees it.
‘They are technically very strong, they find good solutions so if you want to play a high press you have to do it at a really top level, otherwise they will find solutions and they have good movement up front, so we need to be aware of that. They are also strong at set-pieces.
‘We are here to win the game, we have some changes in the line-up, we face a strong side from Zenit who showed a lot of quality in the first match at Stamford Bridge, so it is a tough one but we are here to win.’