Chelsea chief Petr Cech names ‘complex’ issue Thomas Tuchel faces this season
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Chelsea icon Petr Cech has warned supporters that the club will require some luck to retain their Champions League title. The Blues sensationally stormed to success in an all-Premier League showdown with Manchester City last season but their former goalkeeper has played down expectations about Thomas Tuchel’s side winning it for successive campaigns.
Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal as Chelsea strolled past Zenit St Petersburg in their opening Group H clash.
It was the striker’s third goal since sealing a £97.5million return to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Lukaku’s blockbuster arrival has improved Tuchel’s squad, making them one of the favourites to win the Champions League again.
Back in May, Tuchel culminated a wonderful first five months in charge by guiding the club to victory over the Premier League champions. Kai Havertz scored the only goal in a dramatic final in Porto.
The pressure has now been heaped on the German head coach to retain the title while also challenging for the Premier League.
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But Cech, the former shot-stopper turned technical and performance advisor, has warned that winning the Champions League is complex. The 38-year-old has insisted that there is an added pressure on all clubs involved in the competition.
“It is really difficult to retain the Champions League because you need an element of everything going right and you need to be lucky as well,” he wrote on Chelsea’s official website.
“For Real Madrid to win it three times in a row, that was absolutely exceptional and you have to really take your hat off to a team for doing that because it’s a title that is really so hard to retain.
“When you come in as a champions, everybody has extra pressure and that adds to the complexity of the whole thing.
“You need everything to go right, no unlucky games or bad decisions or away goals against you.
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“You are playing the best teams in Europe throughout the competition and everybody has the same motivation and quality to go through.
“That is what it makes it so unique and so difficult but we started well with a good win against a tough opponent in Zenit St Petersburg so now we keep building from here.”
Tuchel also told supporters to manage their expectations prior to the victory over Zenit.
“You can do what you want,” he said when asked if it was fair to label his side as favourites.
“It will not change our approach. We came out of the shadows, nobody thought that we would be the winners in the end.
“Believe it or not, there are so, so many teams that can win it. You need luck, momentum, a good group. There are so many teams out there with a good group, a strong club, and good coaches.
“This competition is a very open competition and like you see in other sports anything is possible if you believe, have momentum, have luck.
“We had this. We had a strong bond. We were surprised to win it but not undeserved. This can happen to anybody.”
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