Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel backs his decision to bench Romelu Lukaku after his controversial interview

Chelsea are going through a rough phase, both on and off the field. Some comments made by their forward Romelu Lukaku has created a lot of talk about the Blues and their manager Thomas Tuchel.

The Blues recently played out a 2-2 draw against Liverpool in an entertaining Premier League clash. After the game, the German tactician was pretty calm regarding the Lukaku situation and pointed out that he will look to do the right thing involving all the parties.

The Belgian international clearly stated that he is not happy at the Stamford Bridge and mentioned how Inter Milan is still in his heart.

“He’s our player, he will stay our player, we will always protect our playe, ” said Thomas Tuchel after the game. “First we need to evaluate the situations, not listen to media or pressure, understand what he said and why he said it.”

Lukaku was sanctioned for his comments against the manager and the club and therefore he was not allowed to feature in the matchday squad against Liverpool.

“Then we will take the decision if he is good to go for Wednesday. I cannot tell you right now because we need to talk and understand the situation more and on we go. Once the situation is clear he will stay our player and we protect our player,” the German tactician added.

Coming to the game, Chelsea were largely better than Liverpool but the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Sadio Mane handed Liverpool the lead in the sixth minute of the game whereas Mohamed Salah doubled the lead in the 26th-minute mark. However, Mateo Kovacic came up with a world-class strike to break the Liverpool defence. Lastly, Christian Pulisic scored at the stroke of halftime to restore parity. It was a cagey second half that saw both teams cancel each other out.

However, the German defended his decision of not playing Lukaku as he wanted to protect him. There was too much talk around the Belgian and hence he did not want to make a rash decision.

“We wanted to protect Romelu from a rash decision because we need to speak with him, read the full interview and stay calm. It was simply the decision to protect the match like this. It was too much noise. This was clear that he will not be in the squad,” Tuchel concluded.