“It was brilliant” – Thomas Tuchel salutes Chelsea star for protecting Kai Havertz during Club World Cup final

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has hailed Cesar Azpilicueta's actions in the FIFA Club World Cup final against Palmeiras.

The Blues won a penalty late in extra time and their skipper lined up as though he was going to take the spotkick before handing the ball over to Kai Havertz.

This was seemingly a ploy to get the Palmeiras players to think the Spaniard would take responsibility, in turn taking some pressure off Havertz.

In the end, the German international converted the crucial penalty to help Chelsea win their maiden FIFA Club World Cup.

Speaking on the incident, Tuchel was full of praise for Azpilicueta's professionalism against Palmeiras and stated that he embodies everything Chelsea stands for as a football club.

''He embodies everything that Chelsea stands for, being relentless, being humble, being a warrior at the same time. I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t wish the very best for him."

‘'If you see how he protected Kai for the penalty, it was brilliant. This is what he does on a daily basis, he protects the team, he’s the first one to step up. Happy to have him,’' said Tuchel.

Following their FIFA Club World Cup triumph, the Blues will now turn their attention to the Premier League, where they face Crystal Palace on Saturday.

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Cesar Azpilicueta is seemingly writing the final chapter of his legendary Chelsea career

Azpilicueta is a model professional

Cesar Azpilicueta joined Chelsea from Olympique Marseille in 2012 and has gone on to become a bonafide Stamford Bridge legend.

Despite not being the flashiest or most technically gifted, the 32-year-old makes up for this with his pristine professionalism and attitude.

He is every coach's dream, and Tuchel had nothing but kind words to say about his captain.

''He’s always important and the plans are most of the time not longer than 10 days or 14 days max in football.’'

‘'For me as a manager he’s super important, he was super important since day one, we had a good connection from the first day which is always important and you always wish for as a coach.

‘'He gets better with every game he plays, he’s an example, a leader by doing and leading example which is always super, super nice to have.

‘'Now he collects so many trophies, he’s had such an incredible career at one club, which is outstanding,'' said Tuchel.

The former Osasuna man will be out of contract with the Blues this summer, and with five months to go, his future is still up in the air.

There have been strong reports linking him with a free transfer to Barcelona, although the Stamford Bridge faithful are adamant that their skipper should be offered a renewal.

Regardless of what happens next in Azpilicueta's career, we can be sure that he will continue to give his all as he has done for the last 15 years.

Whether that will be at Stamford Bridge or elsewhere remains to be seen.