Thomas Tuchel has taken responsibility for asking centre back Andreas Christensen to go up against Vinicius Junior in Chelsea‘s 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid.
The Brazilian ran the Danish defender ragged, exploiting the space between him and Blues wing back Reece James in the first half at Stamford Bridge to devastating effect by setting up the first goal of Karim Benzema‘s stunning hat-trick.
The 25-year-old’s torrid evening was ended when he was replaced at half-time by midfielder Mateo Kovacic, while England star James was instructed to play deeper in the second half to negate the threat posed by Vinicius.
Christensen’s performance came amid ongoing reports he has agreed terms to join Barcelona when his deal comes to an end once the season finishes.
Tuchel went public in November with his attempts to get the Dane to commit his future to the west London club, but it is understood Christensen is on the brink of completing a free-transfer move to Barcelona.
But the German boss – who last weekend insisted he did not ‘have any concerns’ about playing Christensen despite his likely exit – refused to individually call the Dane or N’Golo Kante out for their performances.
The Frenchman was the other player taken off at the break to be replaced by Hakim Ziyech.
The blues now have to win by a two goals margin to have any say for a place in the semi finals of the champions league.