Chelsea fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb on their opening Champions League journey of 2022-23 on Tuesday night. After the game, manager Thomas Tuchel was absolutely fuming, as he slammed his team's performance.
Thomas Tuchel fuming after opening defeat for Chelsea in Zagreb
Chelsea were heavy favourites for their visit to Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday, but were stunned by Mislav Orsic's early goal in a 1-0 defeat.
HOW ABOUT THAT! 😱
Mislav Orsic shows tremendous pace and poise to put Dinamo Zagreb in the lead against Chelsea ✨#UCL pic.twitter.com/4uuQW2gF3I— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 6, 2022
It was a super goal on the break from Orsic, but it was an all too familiar tale for Chelsea, whose defeat in Zagreb was not the first in recent weeks.
The Blues have now fallen to defeats to Southampton, Leeds, and Dinamo Zagreb in recent weeks, in a slow start to the season.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was fuming in his post-match interview with BT Sport in Zagreb. Though he said that the start to the season did not worry him yet, Tuchel was clearly livid with how the game had gone for his side:
It's an underperformance from us. It's the same story, like always: we have an okay start, we don't finish our half chances, we don't feel it when the game is already there to put to bed in the first 15-20 minutes.
Then we conceded one counter attack, which was far too easy, and from there we struggled, and lose the next match.
There's not too much to analyse, I'm a part of it. We are clearly not there where we need to be and where we can be, so it's on me, it's on us, we need to find solutions.
At the moment everything is missing.
I need to find a solution for the next match, of course.
"At the moment everything is missing."
Thomas Tuchel isn't mincing his words after Chelsea's opening Champions League defeat... 😤
🎙 @archiert1 | #UCL pic.twitter.com/lCz4AS3wh5— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 6, 2022
Thomas Tuchel has been in charge of Chelsea for 20 months now, and most notably led the side to a surprise win in the Champions League in the 2020-21 season.
He will be hoping to turn things around quickly, however, otherwise his job at Stamford Bridge may be under threat.
Chelsea currently sit in sixth in the Premier League on ten points, and face Fulham in the West London derby on Saturday. Their next Premier League assignment comes against RB Salzburg next Wednesday, before a massive Premier League clash with Liverpool.
The next few weeks could be crucial for Chelsea's season, and Thomas Tuchel will hope that defeat in Zagreb is not an omen of things to come.