Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has named Manchester City and Bayern Munich as teams setting the ‘benchmark’ in Europe.
Man City faces Chelsea in the semi-final of the FA Cup at Wembley at the weekend, as Pep Guardiola’s side is also on the verge of winning the Premier League title.
City also made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday and will face Paris Saint-Germain for a place in the final.
Tuchel still rates Bayern Munich as one of the two best teams in Europe along with Manchester City despite the German’s crashing out to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final.
Tuchel also vowed to hunt Manchester City from the first day of the 2021/22 season and challenge them for titles.
“In Europe, for me, there are two teams that are the benchmark: Manchester City and Bayern Munich,” Tuchel told the press ahead of FA Cup semi-final clash with Man City.
“We have to accept there is a gap between us and Manchester City. If you look at the fixtures in the last few years we have to accept them, but without making us feel too small.
“Man City are on the verge of winning the Premier League (Picture: Getty) ‘From day one of next season we will hunt them and try to close the gap.
“I don’t think these teams are chess teams,’ Tuchel said.
“English football, City’s game, our game is about intensity without the ball. So I expect a high-intensity match, Tuchel said, as Chelsea reaches first Champions League semi-final in seven years
“City define themselves with a clear DNA and style. They want the ball and high ball recoveries. We want that too so we have to fight for these moments and make them suffer.
“We are in a good moment. We had a setback against West Brom but we had an excellent response.
“We had tough challenges to face and we did two very good, intense matches. It was a good challenge against Porto.
Read Also: Thomas Tuchel: My Target Is To Win EPL This Season
“If we manage to beat Manchester City it will be a huge boost. If not we will have to take it as a challenge and opportunity to grow because we have big fights coming up.
meanwhile, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says Thomas Tuchel’s fine start to his reign at Chelsea is not surprising to him, adding that he knows the German gaffer too well.
Tuchel became Chelsea manager at the end of January following the sack of Frank Lampard.
The former Borussia Dortmund manager has managed to guide Chelsea to Champions League and FA Cup semi-finals.
Tuchel failed to record a win against Guardiola while the Spaniard was at Bayern Munich and he in charge at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, but the former Barcelona coach said he was never in doubt that his opposite number would succeed at Chelsea.
“I know him from Mainz,” Guardiola told the press on Friday.
“When I was in Munich after he went to Dortmund and spent one or two games playing exactly the way he wanted to play.
“It was difficult to take over a team during the season but he has a lot of experience winning at a top club like PSG and now another club at Chelsea.
“I knew from the beginning he would do a good job.
“‘Every manager plays in the way they play,’ Guardiola added on Tuchel’s style of football.
“Frank did an incredible job in the first season when he could not sign players and qualified for the Champions League.
“I admire both as a person and a manager. Tomorrow we face Thomas. ‘He knows how I admire him and how good he is as a manager. It will be a good battle.”
Follow us on Facebook
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.