Mateo Kovacic says he is looking forward to coming up against Croatian team-mate Luka Modric in tonight’s clash… but would rather have him on his team.
take on in the second leg of their quarter-final on Tuesday night, looking to overturn a 3-1 deficit in the Spanish capital.
Modric played the full 90 minutes in the first leg as Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick, while Kovacic came off the bench and was tasked with keeping the 36-year-old quiet.
Asked how it felt to come up against the former Tottenham man, Kovacic replied: ‘It was nice and also difficult because we were losing and it is never nice when you are losing a game and you have a hard time.
‘But it was nice to see him and to play against him. I always preferred to have him on my team but in this moment we are against each other and we are ready to show our best tomorrow and to try to go through.
‘It’s difficult to stop him because he’s an amazing player. Obviously, he is Croatian and I admired him when I was a child and he played for my favourite club which was in Dinamo Zagreb.
‘Now, when we become good friends I admire him even more – a great person, great player and I’m looking forward to to play against him tomorrow again.’
Thomas Tuchel was understandably disappointed with Chelsea’s performance in the first leg and at one point ruled his side out of standing any chance of progressing to the semis.
Asked again this week in the build up to tonight’s match it seems not much has changed.
‘What chance? Not the biggest chance given the first game’s results and given the competition and the opponent and the stadium we play,’ the German said.
‘We never manage our input and our effort and our belief by the chances we have for our result. We never did and we will not start tomorrow by giving less because it is very unlikely that we make it.
‘It is unlikely but it is worth trying and trying means that we will play to our fullest and to our full limit because this is what we do and we never manage our input and investment by the chances of having a result.
‘This is what it is, it is a big night and a big match and we will try to be in better shape and condition that in the first match.’
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