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Thomas Tuchel has denied reports he is on the brink of signing a contract extension with Chelsea by insisting “there is no time and no need” to discuss his future as the Blues pursue a place in the Champions League final.
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Chelsea face Real Madrid in Wednesday’s semifinal, second leg at Stamford Bridge with the slight advantage of an away goal having drawn the first game 1-1 in Spain last week.
Tuchel signed an 18-month deal to replace Frank Lampard in January. It had been suggested in the Italian media that the 47-year-old was in negotiations over a fresh agreement having won 15 of his 23 games since taking charge but when asked if contract talks had begun, Tuchel replied: “No, there is no time. There is no time and no need for this right now.”
Sources have told ESPN that both parties are relaxed about the situation but the club are keen to reward Tuchel for a fine start to life in west London, reviving their Premier League form to sit fourth in the table with four games remaining.
The former Paris Saint-Germain boss has also steered Chelsea into the Champions League semifinals for the first time in seven years.
However, Tuchel is expecting a tougher challenge from Real in Wednesday’s return game with Sergio Ramos battling to play having been sidelined since the end of March with a calf injury.
He said: “We should be self-confident and have absolutely no fear to face this challenge because we deserve to be there and we can perform on this level.
“Does Ramos play or not? This is a tough question because I simply don’t know it. We will see after the training today and they give the line up tomorrow? Does it change Real Madrid? Yes, a lot because it is the captain, the captain of the most successful team in Europe in the last years so it changes a lot but we cannot lose our head about this decision.
“I think that he will start. We will prepare for that and we have to make sure that he cannot do it alone.”