Talking Heads: Rodgers, Tuchel, Castagne & Azpilicueta Preview Tuesday's Clash
- Leicester City head to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Tuesday (8:15pm kick-off)
- The Foxes defeated the Blues to lift the Emirates FA Cup at Wembley Stadium four days prior
- Managers Brendan Rodgers and Thomas Tuchel spoke to the media on Monday morning
- City's Timothy Castagne and Chelsea defender César Azpilicueta have also previewed the game
While the Foxes lifted the Emirates FA Cup for the first time on Saturday, courtesy of a 1-0 success over the Blues, they only lead the west London outfit in the Premier League standings by two points with two fixtures still to play.
With other teams looking to climb into the top four, a victory for either side will have significant ramifications at the top of the table. Ahead of Tuesday's 8:15pm kick-off at Stamford Bridge, key men from both dressing rooms have been speaking in the media...
Brendan Rodgers discusses the challenge the Blues are likely to pose for Leicester: "When you’re a club that wants to win, sometimes you’ll fall short and it’s about how you respond. They’re a top-class team who are in the Champions League final for a reason. They’ve got an incredible squad of players. For us, it was a huge result for us to win the trophy and now we’ll go into the next game with the same idea. We know we have to work really, really hard, be equally as aggressive and we’ll see if we can make our opportunities count."
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel told the media: "This is a strong group. There is no reason to doubt these players, who have done so well to get into the top four from 10th place, to reach the FA Cup final and to be in the final of the Champions League. We are strong enough to handle these situations and these are the challenges that we face. It’s not easy, but it is fun, and there are a lot of teams chasing us. This is it in sports, there is no team that never loses, there is no single sports guy out there who never loses. Now it's about coming back, bouncing back, showing mentality again and belief on Tuesday."
Timothy Castagne on facing Chelsea again: "We can’t take it as a package deal. You have to play the first one and then, for the second one, analyse what we did and go from there. It maybe makes it easier because, after the first game, you know what works and what doesn’t, but that’s the case for them as well. There might be some things which worked well in the final which won’t work any more because they’ve changed things, so it’s a bit double sided. It’s two different games. Obviously, it’s not going to be easy, but we know if we win on Tuesday, we’ll be in the Champions League for sure."
Speaking to chelseafc.com, Spanish full-back César Azpilicueta said this week: "We cannot change the results, but we have to be humble, to accept that we can be better, pick ourselves up and go again, because we have three crucial games for the club, for us, for the fans and we are determined to win them. We are in a position where everything is in our hands and now is the moment, the last week of the Premier League. We want to be in the top four and qualify for the Champions League and we have to show it on the pitch."
All times BST.