Thomas Tuchel has hinted that deadline-day signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria could both make their Chelsea debuts on Tuesday.
The Blues face Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb to begin their Champions League campaign in Group E, but they'll be without Thiago Silva for the 5:45pm kick-off. The veteran defender, now 37, is being rested for the match after being an ever-present in all six of Chelsea's Premier League games so far this season.
Meanwhile, ex- Arsenal striker Aubameyang and on-loan Juventus midfielder Zakaria are both set to feature after securing their respective moves to Stamford Bridge in the final hours of the summer transfer window last Thursday. While Zakaria remains fully fit, Aubameyang is still nursing a broken jaw which he sustained during a violent robbery of his former home in Barcelona 10 days ago.
"We decided with Thiago that he will have a break from the travelling and the stress after playing every minute so far in very intense matches," Tuchel confirmed during his pre-match news conference, having also left the injured N'Golo Kante in London. "It was the moment to give him a break instead of putting him on the bench and having the travel issues. He takes care of his recovery."
The Blues boss added: "We had the opportunity to take everyone who was in training and available to Zagreb to do our last training. That includes Denis and Auba. [Aubameyang] had a test with his [protective face] mask and felt fine, trained normal. If everything goes well today they will both be available."
As for the Tuesday's opponents, Tuchel has warned his players that they face a tricky test at the Stadion Maksimir, despite being the overwhelming favourites. "They are used to winning, it's a winning team. They are used to being on the top. That shapes a certain mentality," the German explained, with Zagreb having won the last five Croatian top-flight titles.
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"They made it through the qualification, which is never easy. They deserve to be here and I'm pretty sure they will plan to play a very technical, emotional game against us. They have individual quality like always, like every team of Dinamo Zagreb and any Croatian team. A lot of individual quality.
"We are ourselves in a moment where we need to improve, we are not fully happy with the results, with our performances. We need to take the next step. It's the Champions League, very exciting. We are very aware what the challenge is to play in a first match away in a group stage. It's difficult.
"It can end up in complicated situations but I think it's very important that we accept it and play a humble match, don't get stuck in our own expectations. We will accept the fight and the challenge and then we can also have the belief and trust we are able to win. We need to perform, for sure."
