Christian Pulisic says the decision by Thomas Tuchel to leave him out of the Chelsea starting XI for the Blues' famous Champions League win over Real Madrid during the 2020/21 campaign left him feeling "dumbfound and very disappointed."
Following the appointment of Tuchel in 2021, there was an expectation that Pulisic would re-establish himself as a key figure in the Chelsea side as the duo had worked together to good effect during their time at Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund. However, that didn't prove the case.
Pulisic was used as an impact substitute by Tuchel during the early weeks of the German's reign at Stamford Bridge, although the American star had forced himself into the starting XI by the time the Champions League semi-finals came around. The 24-year-old was named in the side for the first leg against Real and scored in the 1-1 draw. Although the strike only came as a result of ignoring an instruction from Tuchel.
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"The untold story behind that goal is that when [Antonio] Rudiger has the ball, I can see he’s looking to play it long over the top and I started my run to get in behind the Madrid backline," the Chelsea winger explains in his upcoming book, Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far.
"But as I take off on the run, I hear Thomas Tuchel yelling from the sideline, 'Christian, stay in the pocket, don’t make the run!' But I just had the feeling I’d find the space and get on the end of the pass, so I continued the run and I cut across the front of Nacho and behind Raphael Varane.
"When I got the ball, I thought I was going to have to shoot straight away, but then I realised that I had more time than I thought because Nacho had run to cover the goal line and Varane was more concerned about marking the arrival into the box of [Timo] Werner. So I thought that I would create a better angle for myself by rounding Courtois and then being able to pick my spot."
The away goal put Chelsea in control of the tie heading back to Stamford Bridge – and Pulisic was confident he would start the away leg until Tuchel had a late change of heart and opted to deploy Kai Havertz against the La Liga giants.
"What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me," Pulisic adds. "l’d had a really good first leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result, I didn’t play a single minute in the Fulham game.
"Then on match day of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he’s changed his mind and he’s going with Kai. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed. I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start. So by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up.
"[Edouard] Mendy made some big saves that game, especially two off Benzema, and it was a great night at the Bridge. I'd say my assist for Mason [Mount] was probably my favourite I’ve ever made. It came at just the right time and closed the game for us."
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