Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel accepts that his side has what it takes to win the Champions League this season.
The Blues as of now lead 2-0 after their quarter-final first leg with Porto, and the German is only considering silverware despite his side not being favorites within the competition.
“I’ve come here to win titles,” Tuchel said on Monday. “I’m here to win games, that’s what I ask of myself.
“The time is now. Although if I’m honest we could talk about it for hours and hours. Tomorrow, we have to play and there are no games more difficult than the next one.”
Beyond himself, the German is convinced that his players and the club are on the same side as he is, and are similarly starving for silverware. Moreover, Chelsea could win it this time under Tuchel. He has brought a lot of self-esteem and confidence to the team, this season after the departure of Lampard as manager.
“You won’t find any team who don’t want to reach the semi-finals,” Tuchel said. “There’s nothing to hide. This is a team with the culture and structure to win titles and games.
“If you want to finish the season with a trophy we’d better win both matches, otherwise could be difficult,” said the German. “Because the Premier League title will not be our job to lose.
“It’s most important for me to be fully focused on what we do, and forget that we have already a result (from the first leg), and forget what we did at Crystal Palace because it’s the past.
“There’s nothing less interesting in football than the past. Everything that counts in football is the next match, the next competition. We play in three competitions and hopefully, we’ll still be in three competitions.
“Tomorrow there’s no trophy to win, on Saturday there’s no trophy to win, but of course these are matches where we can take decisive steps, we are well aware.
“Everybody can wreck their heads about it, but we are there to play football, and this is the target, and this is the challenge actually – to keep focus.”
“This club has the history and the mentality for that.”