Thomas Tuchel revealed that Romelu Lukaku had returned to Chelsea training ahead of the FA Cup semi-final clash with Crystal Palace.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Tuchel updated reporters on the striker’s fitness status.
Will Lukaku make it?
Lukaku has missed the last two games because of a pain in his Achilles.
He did not feature in the 6-0 demolition of Southampton, nor the impressive Champions League away performance at Real Madrid.
Injuries and illness have already fragmented parts of his underwhelming season back as a Blue.
The 28-year-old is now in a race against time to be available for Sunday’s huge showdown under the Wembley arch.
“Except for Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson-Odoi, everyone seems to be okay,” explained Tuchel when asked about the condition of his squad.
“We still have two more trainings to go, so fingers crossed it stays like this.
“Romelu was back in training yesterday. Let’s see if he has any reaction or not.”
Hurting from Madrid
It is quite surprising that Chelsea have no new causalities considering the mammoth effort they exerted on Tuesday.
Tuchel’s men were forced to play two hours of football in Spain, having failed to overcome Madrid within 90 minutes.
They came so close to doing so, scoring three times to go ahead 4-3 on aggregate.
However, a late Rodrygo strike followed up by Karim Benzema’s fourth across the whole tie meant Carlo Ancelotti was the joyous manager by the final whistle.
Tired legs and crushed souls flew back to London, aware of the next challenge waiting for them around the corner.
They cannot let their European exit affect the preparation for Palace.
The FA Cup is realistically the last silverware Chelsea can win this term, with the Premier League all but out of reach.
Although it might not have been top of Tuchel’s agenda at the start of the campaign, it will be first on the list now.
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