Chelsea star Christian Pulisic has admitted that he was “very frustrated” with Thomas Tuchel’s decision in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League semi-final win over Real Madrid.
The 22-year-old was on the score-sheet in the first leg and given a rest on Saturday ahead of the second leg.
It was certainly a surprise that he did not make the starting line-up against Real Madrid despite expectations.
“Christian got a bad message today unfortunately,” Tuchel explained his decision before the game (via 5th Stand app).
“Kai [Havertz] gives us a little bit of height against the set-pieces and maybe in fast attacks, he can keep the ball.”
Considering Havertz’s performance in the game — which impressed club legend Pat Nevin who claimed that the attacker outworked oven N’Golo Kante, no one could really say that Tuchel made a wrong decision.
After all, Pulisic also had a massive impact when he came on from the bench and Chelsea have now booked a place in the Champions League final.
Pulisic, however, could not hide his disappointment about the decision.
“Very frustrated. Yeah, not much else to say,” the American told CBS Sports in a post-match interview.
“I wanted to play from the beginning as I always do.
“I’ve had to continue to prove myself over and over again. But as always, I just reach out to God and He gives me strength.
“With that behind me, nothing can stop me really.”
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