Thomas Tuchel insists he has nothing to prove tonight on his return to England – seven months after he was sacked by Chelsea
Tuchel, who took over at Bayern Munich 18 days ago, was asked if there was extra motivation for him facing Manchester City tonight, after the way his time at Chelsea ended.
The 49-year-old, who was sacked a year after leading Chelsea to Champions League glory, said: “No, it's impossible. I can just give my contract back if I'm not highly motivated for tomorrow. This is a pure pleasure, pure joy and a great gift to be part of a match like this, a quarter-final of a Champions League.
“Listen, Tuesday and Wednesday football is the competition where you want to be. If you are there as a player or you have the possibility to be there as a coach, it's a gift from life.
“I appreciate it a lot and there's an obligation to give my very, very best in terms of motivation, input, help and devotion to my players. There's no more motivation needed.
“I can tell you I'm happy to be back. I enjoyed every single day being in England, coaching in England and in the Premier League. I'm happy to be back and to be back in this atmosphere.
“But when the whistle goes, there will not be so much enjoyment and sentimental thoughts. We will then compete until the last whistle.”
Tuchel also admitted that he's been struggling to sleep in the build up to Bayern's trip to the Etihad. He revealed he was hoping for an early night following his team’s arrival in Manchester but conceded that might not be possible as he mulls over his tactical plans.
The former Chelsea manager said: “I will try to go to bed early. I just hope I will be able to sleep. The best preparation is sleep but sometimes it is hard to get that sleep when you’re thinking about things.
“This morning I woke up really early and I just decided to go to the training ground because I couldn’t get back to sleep. I just kept thinking about the match.”
Bayern defender Matthijs De Ligt reckons City are the strongest team left in the competition – despite having never won the Champions League.
De Ligt said: “If you look at the quality of their matches over the last couple of years, you can say they're one of the strongest in the world.”
