Yahoo News Tuchel ‘hoping for the best’ after Chelsea suffer double injury blow as N’Golo Kante and Ben Chilwell come off
Chelsea suffered a double injury blow to put a dampener on an otherwise fine night against Juventus.
N’Golo Kante and Ben Chilwell were both forced off during Tuesday’s Champions League clash in separate incidents that both appeared innocuous at first.
After 38 minutes, midfielder Kante was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek shortly after having a shot blocked by Leonardo Bonucci. He was able to walk slowly off the Stamford Bridge pitch without help from the Chelsea physios.
Chilwell meanwhile was left hurt after a tangle with Adrien Rabiot. The left-back slapped the turf with his hand and appeared in pain having injured his knee.
Physios treated the player and carried him off after helping him to his feet, with Cesar Azpilicueta substituted on in his place.
Speaking after the match, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was full of praise for Chilwell’s performance, and gave an update on his injury.
“He was playing on such a high level in a fantastic moment like Reece on the other side, they are in the best shape they could possibly be,” Tuchel said.
“So strong and full of confidence, such a lot of quality. He was in a lot of pain, now he feels a bit better. We have an examination tomorrow to be a bit more precise and we hope for the best, hopefully we get away with fingers crossed, not bad news.“
The severity of Kante’s injury is also uncertain, though it appears it is likely to be less severe than Chilwell’s.
“N’Golo was the same. He got stronger and stronger in the first half then twisted his knee a bit so hopefully it is not too bad,” Tuchel added.
Chelsea led early on in the showdown at the top of Group H via a Trevoh Chalobah blast from close-range.
Reece James hammered home his fifth goal of the campaign to make it two after the break before Loftus-Cheek helped tee up Callum Hudson-Odoi for 3-0. Timo Werner added a late fourth to complete the rout.
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