Stamford Bridge pitch is difficult to play on – Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel has blamed the state of Chelsea’s pitch for the Blues leaking two costly goals at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks.

Tuchel moved to protect Andreas Christensen after his under-hit back-pass gifted Eddie Nketiah Arsenal the opening goal in Arsenal’s 4-2 Premier League win at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Edouard Mendy’s scuffed pass sold Antonio Rudiger short against Real Madrid on April 6, allowing Karim Benzema to tap in to complete his hat-trick in the Blues’ 3-1 Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat on home soil.

Christensen was withdrawn at half-time on Wednesday but Blues boss Tuchel insisted the Denmark defender was replaced by Thiago Silva due to injury, before claiming that the Stamford Bridge turf is causing problems for his players.

“Andreas said he could not continue so I think he had some problems and that’s why,” said Tuchel.

“I don’t take a player off because he makes one mistake.

“I have to also say the pitch is difficult to play here. Maybe it sounds like an excuse but it is a very difficult pitch that we have here and it’s not in our favour.

“The ball bounced very awkwardly in front of Andreas when he tried to play this ball and we also had the same mistake against Real Madrid that cost us in the Champions League.”

Chelsea toppled European giants Real 3-2 at the Bernabeu Stadium in the quarter-final second leg but still exited the Champions League 5-4 on aggregate.

The Blues’ loss to Arsenal set an unwanted run of three home defeats in a row in all competitions for the first time since 1993.

Chelsea have leaked 11 goals across those three defeats, firstly in a 4-1 reverse at the hands of Brentford after the latest international break before the Real and Arsenal games.

Nketiah