Thomas Tuchel insisted Olivier Giroud’s spectacular goal for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid didn’t take him by surprise at all when the 34-year-old scored with an overhead kick to give his team a 1-0 win in the away leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.
When asked at his post-match press conference if he was surprised by Giroud’s athleticism given the French striker’s age, Blues boss Tuchel explained:
“If you see him on a daily basis you cannot be surprised.
“He is totally fit, his body is in shape, his physicality is at the top level. Mentally, he tries every day being a professional top player at this level and this is the level he needs to be.”
Chelsea looked well organised in their encounter against the La Liga side and managed to frustrate an Atletico team which were struggling to create chances. The win gives them the advantage of being in a strong position for the second leg on 17 March although the next time around they will be without Mason Mount and Jorginho, who will both be suspended after picking up yellow cards.
“I’m super happy for the players and for my team that we have such a big reward for a top performance,” Tuchel said.
“It was very important that we were absolutely concentrated for all 96 minutes, that also we accepted that it is very hard to create chances, but we did all that.
”We will be missing two crucial players in the next leg and that makes it not easy for us. But I am very happy with the performance of everybody and that includes Mason.”