Chelsea started the new season on Wednesday with a European trophy by beating Villarreal 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to lift the UEFA Super Cup.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel said he was proud of his players for winning the UEFA Super Cup, praising their physical and especially mental efforts and strength, specifically after Villarreal levelled things in the second half.
He said, “Physically, this was the worst thing that could happen to us, playing extra time. Mentally, it was the best thing to happen.
“[We decided to] use this match to win it and nothing else. We went with the team that played against Arsenal and Tottenham to be in the best shape possible. Are we 100% of our capacity? No, absolutely not. But we were ready to play. We had to suffer because you could see that after 35 minutes that things got hard for us [but] I am very impressed with our reaction after 75 minutes because we had total control of the game again. We played a very good match until the 120th minute.
“So there were a lot of good things. Physically, we overused players who were not ready to play 120 minutes. We only have two days now until the next match against Crystal Palace so that does not help us. But this is the schedule. We came with many players who didn’t even play a friendly match so far. This the situation and it helps nobody if we say we’re not ready. We have to adapt, to be as ready as we can be in our mindset, and give our best on Saturday.”
Chelsea won the Super Cup with substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga brought on in the penultimate minute of extra time specifically for a penalty shoot-out in which the Spaniard then saved two of the seven spot kicks he faced, The Telegraph of London reports.
In a night of high drama Arrizabalaga was then mobbed by his jubilant team-mates, lifted onto their shoulders and was even kissed on the cheek by Tuchel.
The Chelsea manager took off Edouard Mendy in the 119th minute with Arrizabalaga – so derided during his career at Chelsea so far – not even touching the ball before he first saved from Aissa Mandi, low to his right and then from Villarreal captain Raul Albiol, also down to that side, in sudden death. Albiol crumpled in tears as Chelsea celebrated.
“We’ve won it all,” chanted the Chelsea fans and their team now only has the Club World Cup to win in December to complete the set.
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