Porto (Portugal) (AFP)
Dismissed by Paris SG at Christmas, coach Thomas Tuchel enjoyed a resounding revenge by winning the Champions League on Saturday after only four months at Chelsea, a team he remodeled in his image, that of a demanding technician and charismatic.
For the 47-year-old German, trips to Portugal follow one another but do not look alike.
On August 23, in Lisbon, with PSG, he lost the final against Bayern Munich (1-0), after a heartbreaking evening that his striker Neymar had ended in tears.
# photo1
"TT" returned to Cristiano Ronaldo's country on Saturday, with the colors of Chelsea and the experience of this match which made him "learn", as he said.
This time, his "Blues" triumphed over Manchester City (1-0), and Tuchel let his joy burst out, haranguing his supporters at the end of the match.
A handsome player, he also embraced his counterpart and opponent Pep Guardiola, with his long segments which draw a skinny silhouette.
# photo2
What a comeback!
Less than six months ago, on December 23, the blond Bavarian learned of his dismissal from Paris SG, despite a prosperous 2020, marked by four national titles and the club's first C1 final.
"I had a shitty Christmas," he said.
Tuchel believed that his trophies accumulated in Paris would protect him, but in the capital, management and supporters criticized him for more and more frequent rants that threatened the club's balance.
- Degraded image -
At the end of the transfer window, his projections targeting the Parisian sporting director Leonardo, on the quality of a workforce that he considered less strong than the previous season, installed him on a hot seat.
# photo3
Very little active on social networks, caring little about his reputation, Tuchel allowed his image to deteriorate, until reaching the point of no return.
"Tuchel is not interested in marketing, in his image. He is interested in his work, he wants to be judged for his work and only that", decrypts Daniel Meuren, author of a biography on the German.
"For my publishers, another book on (Jürgen) Klopp would have been more interesting than on Tuchel. It sells more!", Smiles the journalist.
Thomas Tuchel, whose career as a defender was quickly interrupted by injuries, is a follower of the blackboard, who learned his trade on the job, starting from the youth teams of Stuttgart.
Revealed in the Bundesliga in Mainz (2009-2014), then in Dortmund (2015-2017), his stellar trajectory recalls that of Klopp, passed through the same clubs before landing in Liverpool and also winning the Champions League in 2019.
But at the end of 2020, it would have been difficult to predict that Tuchel would in turn win the European Grail.
- "Good guy" -
A month after his forced departure, the native of Krumbach nevertheless rebounded in Chelsea where he returned to his fundamentals and the famous "spirit", which he repeated during his press conferences in Paris, to revive a 7th Premier club. League upon arrival.
"From the first day, we felt a great connection with him, as if he had been there for two years. Everything came naturally, his vision of the game, we understood each other well," said midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
"He's a great manager, and a very good guy," remembers City player Ilkay Gündogan, who knew him for a year in Dortmund.
On the one hand, the trainer who loves cuddling.
On the other, the formidable technician who introduced a system with three defenders to make the "Blues" one of the most impermeable teams in Europe, still impassable on Saturday in the final in Porto despite the early injury of the boss of his defense Thiago Silva, released in the 39th minute.
Despite the defeat in the FA Cup final against Leicester (1-0), Tuchel could already boast of having qualified Chelsea for the next Champions League, thanks to a 4th place in the Premier League won in the last day.
# photo4
But with this unexpected coronation in the Champions League, he pulverized all expectations.
"I had a shitty Christmas. But I had the best present under the tree," he joked.
© 2021 AFP