Thomas Tuchel said he deliberately excluded Mateo Kovacic from his starting line-up against Leeds United with Wednesday’s clash with Atletico Madrid in mind.
Jorginho and N’Golo Kante started in midfield for Chelsea at Elland Road on Saturday — and performed quite well overall.
The latter was everywhere on the pitch as usual and surprisingly created joint-most chances for the Blues (three) alongside Hakim Ziyech.
Jorginho helped Chelsea escape Leeds’ relentless pressing on several occasions but unfortunately did not offer much offensively, having failed to make any key pass in the game.
Some would argue that the result could have been different had Chelsea had Kovacic’s ability to glide past players on the pitch.
However, Tuchel admitted that he had to rest Kovacic and prepare for the match against Atleti this week.
To keep in mind, Chelsea will be without Jorginho and Mason Mount are out of the second leg through suspension.
“We took one decision today with Kova, to not let him play and not to have maybe another risk of injury,” Tuchel told Chelsea TV after the game.
“Now we need to find solutions [to Jorginho and Mount’s absences v Atleti], [but] I’m happy that nobody else got injured so far.
“[The players] are quite tired, it was quite demanding [v Leeds Utd].
“And we need all those three days now to recover and be ready.”
Chronicle view
It must have been a difficult decision to make since both top-four race and Champions League qualification are equally important.
Without Jorginho, it is safe to say that Kante and Kovacic will start in midfield against Atleti, with Billy Gilmour potentially being on the bench.
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