After Wednesday’s 3-3 Champions League tie with Zenit, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchehas l slammed his players’ mentality.
Chelsea will enter the knockout stage unseeded after Zenit’s stoppage-time equalizer cost them the top spot in the group.
Chelsea drew against the Russian club thanks to two goals from Timo Werner and a strike from Romelu Lukaku.
Speaking during his post-match press conference, Tuchel: “We had a very good first 15 minutes and then we stopped doing the things we did in the first 15 minutes.
In my opinion, we had a feeling that ‘This is OK. We are in charge. We are the better team’.
But we were forgetting why we were the better team – (it was) because of the investment, the level of concentration. The level was high enough to be the better team.
“And once this drops 5%, 10% – and it did – once we change our behavior we get punished at the moment. It happened at West Ham and again today.
“We started playing balls back, not attacking with the same aggression and same hunger and we have been punished twice.”
“My analysis is very clear: our behavior changes when we have a lead,” Tuchel added.
“This is something we never did and should never do. If you change then, you allow the chance to be punished. The challenge is to close the door.”
Chelsea’s next game is against Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.
