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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Victor

Thomas Tuchel slams Chelsea fans following Roman Abramovich chants

Thomas Tuchel hit out at the Chelsea fans who interrupted a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine ahead of the Blues' game against Burnley.

A minute's applause had begun inside Turf Moor, with supporters of the two clubs taking part, but sections of the away support began chanting the name of owner Roman Abramovich.

The Chelsea owner is poised to step away from the club, issuing a statement in which he revealed he is listening to offers for Chelsea nearly 20 years after taking over in west London.

While Tuchel has previously resisted questions about Abramovich, he was far from happy with the actions of a group of supporters on Saturday.

"It's not the moment to do this," Tuchel said after the game, having called earlier in the week for reporters to stop their questioning about Abramovich.

"Listen, if we show solidarity we show solidarity and we should do it together. We take the knee together and if an important person from our club or another club unfortunately dies, we show a minute of respect.

"It's not the moment to give other messages. It's the moment to show respect.

Was Tuchel right to criticise the supporters? Have your say in the comments section

Tuchel led Chelsea to a 4-0 win at Burnley (Getty Images)

"We do this because this is what we are also as a club. We show respect as a club and we need our fans to commit to this minute of applause.

"At this moment, we do it for Ukraine and there is no second opinion about the situation there. They have our thoughts and our support.

"We should stand together as a club. It's not the moment for other messages."

Chelsea won the game by four goals to nil, with Reece James and Christian Pulisic finding the net either side of a Kai Havertz double, and Tuchel also praised his players for their performance after last week's Carabao Cup final disappointment.

"It shows a lot of character and that's why I am very proud. We played a very strong match at Wembley, we lost," the former Paris Saint-Germain boss said.

"Three days later we accepted a whole different challenge in the FA Cup at Luton, we turned the game around after twice going behind.

"Then we come to Turf Moor three days later and do it again.

"We were very impressive and I am very happy because it shows the character and that the guys have what it takes to play for Chelsea.

"They are focussed and obviously we have an atmosphere where they can still focus on football, which is good."

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