Chelsea still hoping Thomas Tuchel can travel to Abu Dhabi for Club World Cup final against Palmeiras

Chelsea are still hoping that Thomas Tuchel will be able to travel to Abu Dhabi in time for their Club World Cup final against Palmeiras. Tuchel tested positive for Covid-19 at the end of last week and has been isolating in the interim, meaning he has not been able to take part in Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign so far. Ad/> Having beaten AFC Champions League holders Al Hilal in the semi-finals on Wednesday, the Blues will face Brazilian giants Palmeiras in the final on Saturday afternoon.

First-team coach Zsolt Low presided over the win against Al Hilal and, if Tuchel is unable to make it to the final, he will continue to act as stand-in manager at the weekend. Premier LeagueDembele deal was never close — Tuchel04/02/2022 AT 15:29 In his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, Low said: “We still have 30 hours until the game. We still hope [Tuchel] can come and enjoy the group and the final as soon as possible.

“He is following the rules and getting tested. There is a lot of time. Any test he does could be negative.

We hope this happens in the next hours. “Thomas absolutely thinks he can be there, and the team and the whole staff want him to come for the final. “We hope he can come but, if he cannot, we are still well prepared.

We have had a lot of meetings. We had a video conference after the first game analysing it, and seeing what we can do better and what problems we had. “We are absolutely clear what happened in the first game and what we have to do better in the second game.” Bukayo Saka says Arsenal 'always the one' despite interest from Tottenham and Chelsea as a youngster Romelu Lukaku on target for Chelsea against Al Hilal to set up Club World Cup final against Palmeiras Cesar Azpilicueta sidesteps