Chelsea fans certainly wanted to make their voices heard at the Riverside Stadium and back in west London prior to kick off in their FA Cup quarter-final against Middlesbrough.
The supporters have been put through an emotional roller coaster ever since Roman Abramovich was sanctioned in the past weeks for his connections with Russia's Vladimir Putin - which the Chelsea owner has always denied. Not only has the takeover situation caused a lot of uncertainty but the daily running of the club has been affected massively since the government told the club they could only run under a special license until a new ownership structure is in place.
With the deadline for bids now passed, the whole takeover saga is expected to speed up on Monday and beyond with the Raine Group set to shortlist the most suitable offers. But in the meantime, the fans have suffered with a reduced amount of tickets for the quarter-final and they are expected to face more difficulties for their Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid after the EU followed on from the government's decision to sanction Abramovich.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson and Government sent message by fans ahead of Middlesbrough vs Chelsea in FA Cup
Something that Tuchel reckons will come at a 'disadvantage' to his side. "Tough one. The challenge can not be much higher than playing the second leg in the Bernabeu with spectators. It's a big challenge but there is bit excitement around this match and fixture. We know what's coming. It will be an exciting match and a tough challenge," he said in his pre-match Middlesbrough press conference on Friday morning.
"It's nice to play a European team and maybe not at this kind of stage a team you've played so many times in domestic competitions." He the went on to add on the prospect of no fans: "It would be a disadvantage, but this game is for spectators and the game changes with spectators. I'm sure everyone will fight for the chance. These games, any game, is for the spectators and the game is different if supporters are in the ground. I have trust in the board who are in dialogue with UEFA and the government here to maybe find out an exception or a logical exemption to find a solution to have fans in the stadium."
Tuchel's handling of the whole situation has received much praise in recent days and weeks from the likes of Jonathan Woodgate and Joe Cole, but the latter of the pair even made a big claim after the Champions League draw on Friday. He told BT Sport: "Going back to Tuchel's leadership, we've been through such turbulent times and we've seen such poor examples of leadership throughout our society.
"Then you see a football manager stepping up like that, talking like that, doing that and it is just a breath of fresh air. He should be Prime Minister." A message that has filtered to the 600 fans who made the trip up north for this fixture with banners of 'Tuchel for PM' visible in the reduced capacity away.
That kind of love from the fans to Tuchel and role reversal is exactly why the German has claimed he is happy in west London despite these turbulent times.
