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Chelsea are soaring under Thomas Tuchel, having hit their most effective purple patch in a considerable amount of time.
The German broke the record for the longest unbeaten start as Chelsea boss with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid to reach the 2020-21 Champions League quarter-finals. Tuchel is now 13 games unbeaten as Chelsea manager.
Although Chelsea reached the last eight of Europe's top-tier competition for the first time in seven years, they have an important FA Cup quarter-final fixture against Sheffield United lined up on March 21. Meanwhile, Chelsea have drawn FC Porto in the Champions League quarter-finals.
On that note, let's have a look at the latest Chelsea news stories as on March 19th, 2021.
Also Read: Chelsea News Roundup: Tuchel confirms team news ahead of Atletico Madrid clash, Blues interested in Juventus star, and more - March 16, 2021.
Thomas Tuchel provides Chelsea team news ahead of FA Cup
While Thomas Tuchel has largely enjoyed the services of his entire squad across his 50 odd days of management, one player that has been sidelined is Tammy Abraham.
The striker was left out of Chelsea's Premier League squad before he injured his ankle. Tuchel has now announced that the striker is set to return against Sheffield United, saying in this regard:
"Tammy was with the group today, and we hope he is available for Sunday. We had a scary moment when he stumbled and twisted his ankle, but it seems not too serious. He was in a lot of pain at the time but he feels ok now, and I hope he can be in the squad for Sunday."
Thiago Silva continues to be unavailable, as he remains in the treatment room due to a muscle injury. He is only likely to return post the international break.
Petr Cech speaks about Chelsea's Porto challenge
Chelsea have drawn Porto in the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League.
The Portuguese giants managed to reach the knockout stages despite contesting with the likes of Manchester City in their group and Italian giants Juventus in the Round of 16.
Petr Cech, who was a key member of Chelsea's Champions League-winning team in 2012, provided his take on his club's upcoming quarter-final opponent, saying:
"When you reach the quarter-final of the Champions League, you know, you will face a difficult opponent. Now with the pandemic, there are certain other things that play a part in this Champions League. As it stands now, we play Porto as normal away and home, and you can prepare for that."
The Chelsea legend continued in this regard:
"It’s an opponent we need to respect. They have history in the Champions League and European Cup. It’s a team we will be prepared for and ready to play against. We have played Porto a few times in the Champions League. All the games were always tight and very difficult. We expect the same."
The two teams will face off on April 7 in the first leg of their last-eight clash.
Hansi Flick reveals Bayern Munich's past interest in Chelsea's signings
Chelsea dished out a cumulative amount in excess of £110 million for the services of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.
Before their arrival in the Premier League last summer, both the German stars were widely linked to a host of clubs, one of them being Bayern Munich.
Bayern coach Hansi Flick recently said that Bayern Munich were keen on landing the duo last summer, along with Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi. He had said in this regard:
"It's always said that Hudson-Odoi and (Sergino) Dest were my desired players; they were our (Bayern Munich's) desired players. We decided that we wanted to add players for squad depth, and that's what we did. Havertz, Werner and Sane were also mentioned, I would have loved to have all three, but we all decided for Sane."
Werner and Havertz are slowly getting into their stride for Chelsea; they were involved in the build-up to Hakim Ziyech's strike against Atletico Madrid in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
