The FA Cup semi-finals draw is out and the manager of Chelsea football club, Thomas Tuchel, will be tested against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The FA Cup semi-final match between Chelsea and Manchester City will go a long way to prove that the unbeaten run Thomas Tuchel has been enjoying since he joined Chelsea in January is not a fluke. He will lead Chelsea to face a Manchester City side that has been ruthless in all competitions since November last year.
Chelsea vs Manchester City FA Cup semi-finals match is scheduled to take place on April 17 at the Wembley Stadium in London. The winner of the game will go straight to the final to play against either Leicester City or Southampton.
So far this season, Manchester City have proven to be an unstoppable force in all the competitions they are involved in. They have suffered just a defeat since November and they are currently topping the Premier League table with 71 points in 30 games, 14 points away from second-placed Manchester United. They qualified for the FA Cup semi-finals by beating Everton 2-0.
While Chelsea that have been enjoying a breath of fresh air since the coming of Tuchel, are currently occupying the 4th spot on the league table with 51 points in 29 games. They knocked out Sheffield United in the quarter-finals on Sunday, March 21 to qualify for the FA Cup semi-finals against City.
After the 2-0 win over Sheffield United, Thomas Tuchel said Chelsea were fortunate against Sheffield because it took an own-goal scored by Sheffield United’s Oliver Norwood and a late-minute strike by Hakim Ziyech for Chelsea to scale through to the FA Cup semi-finals.
7 – Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in seven successive matches, their longest run since December 2005 (also seven); they've only had one longer run in their history – nine games ending in December 1905. Impenetrable. pic.twitter.com/yl6fTOUz5x
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 21, 2021
Tuchel said: “on the 14th match in a row, I could feel us after the Atletico game a bit tired, there was a big relief in the team, and that is absolutely normal,” said Tuchel. “It was also a huge effort mentally against Atletico.
“Then you have a lot of changes, made from me of course, and you have players leaving right now for international duties, so there is a lot to organize, and many unclear situations.
“It was a moment where we arrived yesterday where I didn’t feel 100 percent comfortable or sure that we could continue on the same level.
“I said to the team before, don’t over-expect from ourselves in the situation. Put in a serious performance, take the little details, but don’t over-expect.
“The first half was okay, the second half when there was the chance for Christian Pulisic that we didn’t take, then we lost control, concentration, a bit of momentum and there were many minutes we had to suffer.
“They had two big chances and we were lucky to escape with a clean sheet. But there are a lot of circumstances to explain it, and it’s OK.
“After 14 matches the target was to go to the quarter-finals [of the Champions League] and to Wembley, and the team have achieved both of the targets so big compliments to them and well done.”
Below are the fixtures for the FA Cup semi-finals 2021
Leicester vs Southampton – April 17
Chelsea vs Manchester City – April 17
