CHELSEA ARE BACK UNDER TUCHEL
Chelsea are a different team under new manager Thomas Tuchel after the German tactician was appointed last month as the replacement for club legend Frank Lampard.
Lampard was the Chelsea manager for over 18 months before club officers decided that it was the right time to part with the ex-Chelsea midfielder after a poor run of results spanning over almost two months under his watch. Since his appointment, Thomas Tuchel has been able to banish the poor results from the final months of the Frank Lampard era and he's stamping his authority on the team. Tuchel has been backed by results on the pitch to suggest that Chelsea are back. The Champions League win over Atletico Madrid went a long way to back up the claim that Chelsea are back as a strong team both on the domestic and European stage.
French striker Olivier Giroud showed his quality in a Chelsea shirt once again with a wonder goal on 69 minutes to give the West Londoners a 1-0 win over home team Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions League. The goal from Giroud was given with the help of VAR as there was a hint of offside. It took his tally to 11 goals for Chelsea this term thus making him the joint topscorer for the team this season.
Atletico Madrid are the Spanish La Liga leaders and the win for Chelsea shows that the team is now a different proposition under Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked at his last managerial job at PSG before his appointment as the Blues boss last month. Thomas Tuchel has led Chelsea to seven wins from the opening nine games in all competitions since his appointment. He has four wins and two draws from six league outings.