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Thomas Tuchel on N'Golo Kane, not fighting Rudiger and progressing

It’s a defining week for Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea as they embark on two big cup fixtures both at home and abroad.

Chelsea take on Man City in the FA Cup semi final this weekend but there is another game to get through before that arrives.

Business on the continent is up first though as Chelsea travel to Seville for a second time in a week as they face Porto in the Champions League quarter final second leg in Spain.

The Blues secured a 2-0 victory over their Portuguese opponents last week at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to put themselves in the driving seat for the second leg, with two “away goals” courtesy of Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell.

It was a massive result for Tuchel with his side coming off the back of the 5-2 humbling at the hands of West Bromwich Albion four days previously.

Tuchel’s men are firm favourites to progress in the Champions League and through to the semi finals for the first time since 2014.

The German head coach will give the full injury update at his press conference at 2.30pm out in Seville and enters the match with fitness doubts over Andreas Christensen, who missed the 4-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday evening with a small hamstring complaint.

Tammy Abraham’s troublesome ankle means he is still a doubt as well for the visit to Seville this week. N’Golo Kante has featured twice since he picked up a hamstring injury on international duty with France so should be available for selection for Tuchel on Tuesday.

The Blues head coach will speak to the media later this afternoon from Seville, as will defender Ben Chilwell who is the designated Blues player to answer questions from the press.

The England left back netted in the victory over Porto last time out and has returned to his best form in recent weeks having been battling for his place in the side with Marcos Alonso at left wing-back for their club.

We will bring you everything that both Tuchel and Chilwell have to say from Spain, with the press conference due to get underway at 2.30pm. As always, there will be a full transcript with every word that was said by the pair online later this evening.

Watch Chilwell back

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That's all from Chilwell

And we're all dopne in Seville. A couple of transcripts coming your way imminently

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Noticed a mentality shift?

I woulodn;t say that, it was all about winning before as well. We want to win stuff still, maybe potentially the older and more experienced players are playing more but whenever anyone is asked to give to the team, they give 100 per cent. Those who aren't playing are important. And it will be for the matches coming up.


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What are Porto's main threats?

If you look at the first leg, we knew it was goingt to be a physical game. Very strong outfit but the manager touched on the fact they are very proud as well, semi final up for grabs. We are not going into tomorrow complacent.

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Mason Mount

He works hard, is keen to learn, does everything he can to better himself, The natural talent he has, this season since I have come in, he has improved so much. If he keeps doing what he is doing, working hard away from the training ground, he will be a great player to Chelsea and England for a long time.

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Training ground atmosphere

You can tell that it's a squad that is together, the form has been brilliant, we are playing well. Training ground, the incident that keeps getting brought up ius a positive, it shows we are competitive and want to be successful. It gets brushed under the carpet straight away

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Better player now than you were before Tuchel arrived?

Not sure if better, but I am always trying to improve. I'm different playing wing back, I wasn't used to it before. I am really trying to improve my game in that sense.

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Ashley Cole role model?

100 per cent, that's why I was keen to meet him and pick his brains. He became a Chelsea legend, fi I cna replicate that then I will be very happy.

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Competition with Alonso/Euros coming up

When the manager came in, it was a clean slate for everyone. I used it as an opportunity to work harder, to ask him questions in training where I can improve and get the opportunity, then prove to him I should be playing more regularly. It's very healthy, especially at this stage of the season, everyone in the squad needs to challenge each other.

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2-0 advantage

Very important, the two away goals could be crucial. It's only half a job done but we couldn't have asked for a better first leg.

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Here's Chilwell...

The Blues defender has arrived.

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That's all from Tuchel

Ben Chilwell will be with us shortly

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CL best chance of a trophy?

Maybe when you get to the final. I was very clear because there is nothing to hide, Chelsea is a club that has a structure, a culture, to win consecutive games. I am here to win titles, to win games.

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N'Golo Kante

I was unbelievably happy whe he could travel with us last week. Now he lacks the downside of his decision, he lost a bit of sleep after the travel issues, the next day he could not train like he usually does so we decied to bring him from the bench against Crystal Palace. Normally it is hard to think of a game like this without N'Golo but we have to absolutely be careful with him.

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Who is your emotional leader?

You don't want to be in a fight with Toni Rudiger, Azpi or Kova. For me, when you have big matches, you look around at who is next to you and feel comfortable, see who you can rely on.

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More passive this time around?

We don't approach games like this or change the approach. For us it is important that we focus on us, play the best game possible as this increases the chances to have a result. In terms of a result, it is easier for Porto because they need to score three goals to get through, for them if it is clear. For us, if we start in this way then we could completely lose our heads. I hope we embrace the challenge and feel it.

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How significant are these next two matches for a trophy?

If we want to end the season with a trophy then we better win both matches or it will be a bit difficult. The most important thing is to fully fous on what we do, forget we already have a result, what we did against Palace, it is in the past. In high level sports, there is nothing more uninteresting than the past, the next fixture is most important. We can be confident, we have a strong squad. We are always a tough team to play against. Don't be afraid of nothing.

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Take a more direct approach tomorrow?

That doesn't always work out, we have to accept against Porto that the game will be up and down. Im some instances we controlled the match, created half chances, good counter-pressing but then in some minutes they escaped the pressure. Sometimes they overlaod sides and give you a lot of questions. In the first leg we experienced up and downs, then the momentum shifted, this is what you have to accept against them.

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Tuchel is here, later than advertised

We're all set to go.

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Running late

They are just testing out all the equipment in Spain before the press conference gets underway.

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Not long now...

Thomas Tuchel should be with us live from Seville in the next few minutes.

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Sergio Oliveira

The Porto midfielder, who has plundered 19 goals this season, missed the first leg through suspension and was only a substitute at the weekend for Porto's 2-0 win over Tondela.

But will he be fit to play 90 minutes for Porto on Tuesday? Here is what Sergio Conceicao had to say.

Sergio Oliveira returned from injury for Porto at the weekend ahead of their Champions League game with Chelsea (Image: Jose Manuel Alvarez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
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Now we await Tuchel

He should be with us in around 35 minutes time.

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What would it mean to reach the semi finals?

It means doing better than what we have been recently. There is a growing gap in financial terms which highlights even further thr whole journey of this team. Whatever the result may be, no-one wants to win as much as me, I am sure the president feels the same as me. We cannot erase what we have done so far in the Champions League. It is an unbelievable differnce compared to others, but it is not the money that wins matches. It is the statistics.

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Can you get a result tomorrow?

We have to believe, be resilient and understand the difficulties we have ahead of us can be overcome. We always try to go in with that state of mind, ever since I have been here, that is what I feel.

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More from the manager

We have to be cohesive, compact, we have to score but not suffer and that is a lot to do with our match strategy.

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Learn anything about Chelsea from the West Brom loss?

Of course we observed certain situations, there are some fragilities that are clear but it is not a reference as they had one less player.

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Thoughts ahead of the game

There are moments throughout the season that can be used as an example. Belief, of overcoming ourselves, that comes from the work we do here. We are confident, we know it is a difficult opponent and obstacle but we are here to respond. There are always 90 minutes in the Porto way. The feeling of representing this club, its DNA, is always brought on to the field.

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Now it's Conceicao's turn

The Porto manager will speak now

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Final words from Otavio

We must believe, do what the coach asks us to and give it our best.

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