PURPLE PATCH: We analyse the German’s virtually impeccable record in semis ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final this weekend.
When Patrick Vieira and Crystal Palace come up against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final, they’ll know they face a manager who excels at this stage in all competitions.
Tuchel already has a glittering CV, but much of that has been built on the fact that he gets his teams into positions to win trophies.
The German manager has taken his teams into 11 semi-finals in his career so far and impressively has won 10 of them, drawing the other, meaning he’s yet to ever taste defeat.
Whether it’s been for Borussia Dortmund, PSG or most recently Chelsea, Tuchel seems to be able to get the best out of his players when it matters and that’s surely a bad omen for Palace at Wembley.
Interestingly, it’s not as if Tuchel’s teams scrape through either.
In those 11 semi-finals, his sides have scored 28 times – an average of 2.55 goals per game – while they have conceded just four times.
His defence has kept a clean sheet in nine of those 11 matches, so it’s clear the German makes sure his team are both attacking and defensively astute.
In short, Tuchel knows what it takes to win a semi-final and his record in them makes his Chelsea side strong favourites to take their manager to yet another final.
Check out the odds for Chelsea v Crystal Palace here
