Tuchel explains decision to recall Hudson-Odoi and Giroud

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel says he can “totally rely” on Callum Hudson-Odoi after recalling the England international for the Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid.

Hudson-Odoi was controversially taken off just 31 minutes after coming on as a substitute in the 1-1 draw at Southampton.

But he has been restored to the starting line-up as a wing-back to face La Liga leaders in Bucharest.

“There is no need to make this bigger than it was,” Tuchel said.

“It was my decision in that moment. It was a hard decision, I had my reasons, and from there we move forward and there is absolutely no reason not to trust Callum from the beginning today.

“I totally can rely on him because he’s always delivered from the beginning.

“He had some problems to have the same impact when he came off the bench, but not really a problem, more a little lesson to be learned from and his reaction was immediate after the match and this was forgotten one hour later. This is how we behave and this is how we can trust each other.”

Jorginho was preferred to N’Golo Kante in midfield and Andreas Christensen played ahead of Kurt Zouma in the back three, while Olivier Giroud replaced Tammy Abraham up front.

Tuchel added: “It’s clear, Oli is the guy for the last 20 metres, for sure.

“We expected a bit of a higher game against Southampton against a very aggressive squad, a very high-pressing squad, so we thought maybe we find more spaces behind the last line, so we opted for smaller and faster strikers to play.

“Today we hope to find our strengths and put the game into the opponent’s half and arrive in the opponent’s box, and Oli has the quality in one-touch finishing, he has the quality in general around the box, strong with headers, and he clearly has the experience in big matches to be decisive.”