Tuchel’s superstition let him down for Alisson’s Liverpool winner at West Brom
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his usual superstition of not watching matches that affect his own side came back to bite him as Alisson’s header kept Liverpool in the top four race.
Liverpool looked to have all but given up on qualifying for the Champions League as they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Brom on Sunday.
However, in a real roll of the dice, Reds goalkeeper Alisson went up for a corner in injury time to try and force a winner.
And the Brazilian ended up scoring a quite sensational header to put Liverpool potentially in with a chance of getting into the top four, depending on the result of Chelsea’s clash with Leicester this evening.
Tuchel admits that he had been keeping tabs on the game, but decided not to watch it as not to tempt fate.
But now the German says that he has given up on any kind of superstitions after such miraculous scenes.
“I came home, switched on the TV and saw it was 1-1 in the middle of the second half," he said. “I thought “oh that’s not a bad result” but I was a bit superstitious so didn’t follow it.
“When I checked later I had to realise that superstitions don’t always work, or maybe never! It was a fantastic header in the last minute and does not make things boring. It’s pretty interesting and pretty tight but still it’s in our hands.
“Somebody asked me after the final if it was a major setback for us for Tuesday but the setback was the Arsenal game. It’s our fault that it’s so close again and we left the door open.
“It was a huge performance that we did so far but now we need to refocus and forget all the other results because we are in the lucky situation where we can rely on ourselves.”
Tuchel also sent a message to Blues fans ahead of his side’s crucial Premier League fixture with Leicester tonight.
There will be around 8,000 fans inside Stamford Bridge for the decisive clash.
And Tuchel has asked fans to get firmly behind the side and give them that extra support they might need to claim all three points.
“We had some matches where we struggled a bit with momentum and I had the feeling that their support could help,” said Tuchel.
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“This could be crucial to our team so having the fans back is fantastic. I hope they come in the right moment to help us secure this last win at Stamford Bridge this season.
“Normally it’s an advantage and to have 8,000 fans feels amazing that it’s possible. It’s absolutely a step in the right direction and we hope that it’s the extra percentage of support that helps us to win tomorrow.”
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