Chelsea coach, Thomas Tuchel, has said that he was ‘surprised’ by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s decision to leave out Fernandinho for the Champions League final against the Blues on Saturday.
Guardiola omitted Fernandinho from Man City’s starting line-up in their defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League final in Porto.
The Spaniard opted to play Ilkay Gundogan in a deeper role instead of Fernandinho as Kai Havertz’s first-half goal ensured Tuchel’s men defeated the Premier League champions 1-0.
“We were a bit surprised, I expected Fernandinho in the line-up to start,” Tuchel admitted at his post-match press conference.
“He [Pep Guardiola] chose a very offensive line-up, a very technical line-up, it was very hard to steal the ball and recover the ball.
“Everything else we more or less expected.
“We expected that they wanted us to pin on the side, very, very wide.
“So it was very important that we stepped out with Azpi [César Azpilicueta] and Toni [Rudiger] constantly out of the back five to support our midfield.”
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