JAKARTA - Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has been ruled out of the Champions League Group H match against Juventus, early Thursday after testing positive for COVID-19.
Kante's absence is a huge blow for coach Thomas Tuchel as the Blues will also be without Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and defender Reece James through injury.
Tuchel admits he doesn't know how many of his players have been vaccinated and although he himself has been vaccinated, he won't force others to be vaccinated.
"We are a reflection of society, the players are adults and they have free choices. We have to accept it, that's more or less what I can say. I know the situation is far from over. It makes you very aware. it's not over yet," Tuchel said at a press conference ahead of the match as quoted by Antara.
"I'm the football coach, I'm the father in my family... I have quite a lot to do. I don't really know what vaccinations are."
Get the key bits Thomas Tuchel's #UCL press conference earlier today. ️
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 28, 2021
"I'm well-informed enough to make my own decisions, but I'm not in a position to make recommendations publicly, I won't do that."
Tuchel is aware other teams will be more motivated to play against Chelsea because they are European champions, but he does not want to name his team the favorites in this competition.
"I don't think we're the favourites, but we've shown what we're capable of," he said. "We have to stay realistic and explain what we demand of ourselves. The better we do this, the better we will perform."
Juventus had a bad start to the season after Cristiano Ronaldo left for Manchester United. The Old Lady are currently 10th in Serie A, 10 points behind leaders Napoli.
"Time will tell, but it's no secret that any team in the world without Cristiano is the weaker team because he's one of the greatest... They lost a big champion, a big personality," added Tuchel. "But you can win games and be a strong team without Cristiano."
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