‘Sad news’ – Tuchel explains team selection and confirms Kovacic injury

Head coach Thomas Tuchel says the decision to select N’Golo Kante in the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Porto was taken out of his hands because of an injury to Mateo Kovacic.

Kante has impressed after twice coming on as a substitute in the last two games following a hamstring injury while on international duty with France.

Tuchel had said he was still unsure whether Kante would start – until “sad news” on Monday.

“Kova is out,” Tuchel added. “The decision got taken out of may hands when Kova got an injury in training.

“I would have loved to have the choice to maybe have N’Golo from the bench to be 100% sure he can finish the game.”

Thiago Silva also returns in the centre of the back three.

“Christensen did not manage to be fully fit after his muscle injury from the first leg,” Tuchel explained.

“These are the two concerns but we have Thiago back in the squad and have not too many changes because we are on a good run and the team is confident.”

The Blues, who lead 2-0 from the first leg, also have Kai Havertz as a centre-forward.