Christian Pulisic has revealed how a selection snub from Thomas Tuchel impacted his relationship with the former Chelsea boss.
On the Blues’ way to winning the Champions League in 2021, Christian Pulisic scored at the Bernabeu as Chelsea took a 1-1 draw back to west London after the first leg of the semi-final tie.
Despite that impressive display, the American was benched at Stamford Bridge for the return fixture, as Tuchel opted to play Kai Havertz up front with Timo Werner instead.
Pulisic came on and set up Mason Mount’s late goal, as Chelsea booked their place in the final and went on to beat Manchester City in Portugal.
However, in his autobiography My Journey So Far, Pulisic has claimed Tuchel assured him he would start in the second leg, something he then went back on hours before kick-off.
“What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me,” Pulisic wrote.
“l’d had a really good first-leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result I didn’t play a single minute in the Fulham game.
“Then on match day of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he’s changed his mind and he’s going with Kai. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed.
“I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start. So by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up.”
