Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, has listed the untouchable in his squad ahead of the Blues’ Champions League semi-final first leg tie with Real Madrid on Tuesday night in Spain.
According to Tuchel, captain, Cesar Azpilicueta , will always be on the pitch for Chelsea, adding that the Spaniard is everything the west London club means because he is reliable.
“He [Cesar Azpilicueta] is everything Chelsea means,” Tuchel said at his post-match press conference following Chelsea’s 1-0 win against West Ham in the Premier League over the weekend.
“He is fantastic, and I want him absolutely to be on the pitch because he is a fantastic captain and a fantastic sportsman.
“He’s everything Chelsea means in my point of view – he is humble, he’s a fighter, he constantly thinks about winning, and he does everything to be in shape every three days. He is a true professional, and there is no work too hard or distance too long for him.
“We used him as a wing-back, and it was a bit hard because he had to do several long runs. It was a bit different for him, but we chose the back three with Andreas, Toni [Rudiger], and Thiago [Silva] because we knew about West Ham’s strength in set-pieces, and we wanted to gain some centimeters in height.
“Azpi is totally open to anything once he sees the reason why. He was very excited to be involved a bit more offensively, and it is nice to have this. The two positions [wing-back and full-back] suit him very well, and he is absolutely reliable.”
