"It was the moment to take a step back" - Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel defends his decision to drop Romelu Lukaku against Lille

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has defended his call to drop forward Romelu Lukaku for their UEFA Champions League clash against LOSC Lille. The Belgian forward started the game on the bench but never made it onto the pitch.

Tuchel stated that Lukaku needed some time away from the limelight following a disappointing performance against Crystal Palace. The 28-year-old forward had a mere seven touches of the football during their recent Premier League game against the Eagles. The forward also did not fit into the gameplan Chelsea had set out to deploy.

Speaking after their 2-0 win over Lille in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash last night, Tuchel addressed why Lukaku was dropped. He said:

"This was not the moment after the match where everybody was focused on the few touches he had to put him right away into the next fire. It was the moment to take a step back. That was the decision and you can clearly see we had a strong win but almost every question is about Romelu. The focus is huge."

He added:

"I think he was tired, a little bit exhausted, lot of extra time, lot of travelling like some of the players. The focus was today on intensity, a high speed game and also hard work on the ball and off the ball."

Tuchel concluded:

"To have intense team work, and Romelu struggled in the last games to deliver that. That's what I mean when I said tired. Not only physically tired but mentally tired."

Chelsea secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Lille at Stamford Bridge without Lukaku's services. Goals from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic were enough for the Blues to take a two-goal lead in the tie. Tuchel's side will travel to France for the second leg, which will be contested on March 16.

They will next take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, February 27, at Wembley Stadium.

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Romelu Lukaku has struggled to find consistent goals for Chelsea

Chelsea paid a club-record £97.5 million to sign Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan in the summer of 2021. The Blues lacked a proven goalscorer last season, a problem Lukaku was brought in to rectify.

However, the Belgian international has failed to settle in at Stamford Bridge. As things stand, the 28-year-old forward has scored just 10 goals from 28 matches across all competitions.

Lukaku also caused controversy a couple of months ago in an interview with Sky Sports. The forward said he was unhappy at Chelsea and wanted to return to Inter Milan at the earliest. The 28-year-old forward later went on to apologize to his teammates and Tuchel.