Tuchel explains Christensen absence and Werner recall for Atletico tie

Andreas Christensen was left out of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 second-leg tie against Atletico Madrid because of illness, head coach Thomas Tuchel said.

The Dane has excelled playing in the back three while Thiago Silva has been injured but was not well enough to be included in the squad for the game at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues lead 1-0 after the first leg and need only extend their unbeaten run under Tuchel to 13 games to progress into the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

“Unfortunately Andreas is ill. It came on overnight and he misses out,” Tuchel said.

“There’s no reason to panic. It’s not Covid. He produced a negative test, but he is ill with a fever. He doesn’t feel good so Zouma comes in and takes his place.”

Tuchel made five changes from the 0-0 draw against Leeds United, with Mateo Kovacic and Timo Werner replacing the suspended Jorginho and Mason Mount.

As expected, Reece James and Marcos Alonso return as the wing-backs.

“We have Oli from the bench and we have five guys that we can use from the bench,” Tuchel explained.

“We hope these guys can come on and have a huge impact, and Oli is one of them. We have Timo up front tonight. He brings a lot of speed, so hopefully we can create some trouble with quick runs to use his pace.

“We just felt that Atletico might feel more comfortable to fight and get into a battle against a player like Oli, rather than against someone like Timo who has real speed.”