Mason Mount hails ‘big impact’ of boss Thomas Tuchel in restoring Chelsea to ‘perform at a high level’ as in-form midfielder admits it ‘doesn’t get any better than that’ after booking spot in Champions League semi-finals
Mason Mount was left insisting it ‘does not get any better than that’ after Chelsea eased past Porto to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
As domestic form collapsed at the end of Frank Lampard‘s tenure, little was expected of Chelsea against LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid.
Beating them over two legs, and now Porto, has opened up the possibility of winning it all and the Chelsea midfielder believes Thomas Tuchel, Lampard’s successor in January, has had a ‘big impact’ in salvaging what was a sinking ship.
‘[Tuchel] has had a big impact,’ he told BT Sport when asked about his manager’s qualities.
‘It’s difficult to come in mid-way through the season but all players, we knew from day one what he wanted and we’ve implemented it.
‘We’ve been working hard in training and we show it on game day. We’ve been solid as a team, performing at a high level – hopefully that continues because there are massive games coming up and we need to keep playing at high level.’
Mehdi Taremi got the only goal in Seville in Tuesday night’s second leg but it was merely a consolation for Porto.
Even losing the second leg, much as Paris Saint-Germain did in the other quarter-final before they too progressed, could not take the gloss over progressing for Mount.
‘It doesn’t get better than that, today the most important thing was getting through,’ he added.
‘We could’ve done better on the day. The performance was at the back of our heads. Getting to the semi-finals was at the forefront and we did that.
‘We had a few [chances], I had a couple but the most important thing was defending, staying strong. Us three up front – me, Kai (Havertz), and Christian (Pulisic), we worked our socks off, kept going.
‘We’re buzzing, we’re in a good position we know we’re playing well.’
Attention now turns to Saturday evening’s FA Cup semi-final against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who play their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Mount and his team-mates know they can finish the 2020-21 season with two trophies and a top four spot, something that looked highly improbable when club legend Lampard was ruthlessly shown the door three months ago.
Tuchel’s side must now wait to see who stands between them and a spot in the final with Real Madrid heading to Anfield with a 3-1 lead over Liverpool from the first leg.
‘We will take anyone [in the next round],’ Mount concluded. ‘We’re ready for the fight, ready for the battle.’