'We will hunt Manchester City and try to close the gap between us' - Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel must be credited for Chelsea’s change in fortunes. He played a key role in Blue’s journey to the semi-final of the FA cup, where they are set to lock horns against Manchester City. Under him, Chelsea have just lost two of their 18 outings in all competitions.

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Manchester City, on the other hand, have been on a roll in this season. They’ve made it to the Champions League semi-finals, the FA cup semi-finals and the Carabao Cup final. Despite Chelsea’s top run, there is still a whopping 20 points gap between them and Manchester City in the Premier League.

Ahead of the semi-final clash, Thomas Tuchel admitted that Manchester City is a far superior team. He, however, was hopeful that Chelsea are going to “hunt” down and close the gap between the two clubs in the next season. 

"We have to accept there is a gap between us and Manchester City," he told BBC Sport. "If you look at the fixture in the Premier League and the fixtures in the last years we have to accept this.

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"And it's important that we accept this without making ourselves too small. From day one of next season we will hunt them. We will try to close the gap between us."

Manchester City trounced Chelsea 3-1 just before Tuchel’s appointment while they were thrashed 6-0 at the Etihad Stadium back in 2019. However, Tuchel is confident of performing well against Pep Guardiola’s men in Saturday's clash.

"We have to admit there is a gap but for 90 minutes we are very self-aware and very self-confident that we believe we can close the gap tomorrow for one game," he said.

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Praising his Manchester City counterpart, Tuchel said that he is a big admirer of Pep Guardiola since his stint with Barcelona.

"When he was coach at Barcelona I didn't have the chance to know him personally, but I was watching almost every game," he added. "I was very impressed by the way they made success happen, by the style they were playing, all the academy guys, the offensive ball possession."

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