Thomas Tuchel was appointed as head coach on 26 January 2021, moving to Stamford Bridge following a two-and-a-half-year spell at French champions Paris Saint-Germain, which came to an end the month before.

He replaced Frank Lampard in the role and became the first German to manage Chelsea.

He won four major honors and reached the Champions League final during his time in the French capital.

Before that, Thomas Tuchel spent seven seasons coaching in the Bundesliga, first with Mainz, where he led them into the Europa League, and then a successful period with Borussia Dortmund, where he won the German Cup.

At Chelsea, he is reunited with Christian Pulisic and Thiago Silva, who he coached during his spells in Dortmund and Paris.

Thomas Tuchel already knows how to beat Real Madrid and guide Chelsea to the Champions League final.

Thomas Tuchel already has a statement victory over Real Madrid on his CV, and that will be important when the Blues take on the La Liga giants.

Thomas Tuchel isn’t like most coaches. He has proved that time and time again during his relatively short spell in charge of Chelsea.

The German’s willingness to give thoughtful, analytical and truly in-depth tactical responses to questions in press conferences is rare, as is his ability to dissect a match mere moments after it has ended.

 

That latter trait has been evident throughout Tuchel’s coaching career. And it’s not one shared by all coaches, even at the very top level.

It gives a window into the mind of the 47-year-old. Enables those watching at home – and when possible in the stands – to understand why certain choices were made, why certain results occurred.

Take, for example, one of the statement victories of Tuchel’s coaching career.

On September 18, 2019, he oversaw Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League, a result all the more impressive given Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Edinson Cavani were absent due to injury and suspension.

Angel Di Maria scored twice that night at the Parc des Princes while Thomas Meunier also struck. It wasn’t a scoreline that flattered the home side as Los Blancos didn’t muster a single shot on target.

“I’m very happy with the whole team because it was really  difficult,” 

Tuchel explained to RMC Sport shortly after the full-time whistle had been blown.

“We had a lot of chances, but there were also some stages for Real where we suffered. But we stayed structured, always tight, aggressive and compact. Really, it was a complete performance.”

That display is likely to remain in the memory of Tuchel. Given that Chelsea will need to overcome Real Madrid to reach this season’s Champions League final, that could well prove extremely useful.

The Blues will face Zinedine Zidane’s side in the last four of the competition. The first leg will be played on April 27, the second on May 5. The La Liga giants are favorites to progress.

That’s no surprise, given Real Madrid’s pedigree in the European Cup. The club has been crowned champions on 13 occasions. Of those successes, four have come in the last seven years. Zidane’s side has the know-how and experience needed to get the job done.

Yet on that September evening in 2019, none of that mattered. Tuchel largely nullified the threat posed by Real Madrid like few coaches in recent memory. And the tactical framework utilized will likely be replicated with Chelsea when the two sides meet.

First things first, Tuchel opted to match Real Madrid’s 4-3-3 with one of his own that night in Paris.

He is highly unlikely to do so when Chelsea takes on Los Blancos, given the success he has had with the 3-4-2-1 system deployed in most of the games he’s overseen at Chelsea.