Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has shared a joke regarding Mateo Kovacic after the Blues learnt who they will face in the Champions League group stage this season.
The draw was made on Thursday evening, with the Blues being one of 32 teams who will compete for this year’s title.
Tuchel’s side reached the quarter-finals of the competition last season, losing to eventual Champions Real Madrid despite a spirited comeback at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg.
Having finished third in the Premier League last season, Chelsea will compete in the Champions League once again, having last won it in 2021.
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They will be keen to taste such success once again, but they will have to overcome the first six games of the tournament before reaching the latter stages.
Chelsea will face AC Milan, FC Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb in Group E of the tournament, with their first game set to take place at the start of September.
Kovacic is set to return to the club where his senior career began, with the Croatian international starting out at Zagreb back in 2010.
He will also play at the San Siro once again, with the 28-year-old formerly playing for Inter Milan before his move to Madrid.
As a result, his boss Tuchel has shared a joke about ticket availability for Chelsea fans during the group stage due to Kovacic’s links.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Leicester City, he said: “I cannot care less about all the other groups! I only care about our group.
“I think we need to be fast with away tickets because the family of Mateo Kovacic is buying all that we have because it is in Austria, Croatia and his former city when he played for Inter and we are playing AC.
“I think he is buying all the tickets that are available so this is where the focus is for our players to get tickets for family and friends!"
He added: “It is always a difficult group. I have never experienced an easy group in the Champions League.
“I don’t care about names, which league, if this is our level or not. If we have to we want to go through. I have only experienced difficult group phases even if it looks from outside if it’s easy and clear.
“These matches are tough. It’s the toughest competition. I am happy I will play against teams and in stadiums I have never played before. From there we go.”
Kovacic is set to return to the team after a spell out through injury, and Tuchel is pleased to see him back in the side.
“We miss him as a personality, his experience and his quality. It’s maybe 20 minutes at the moment. Was his first training week without reaction in the knee so we cannot rush things otherwise we will just sabotage our own plans with him.
“We need him long term. It’s good to have him back and as an option on the bench.”
Topics: Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, Mateo Kovacic, Champions League
Robert Calcutt