Like in the Carabao Cup final, the boss again has a selection choice to make for goalie this evening, with Kepa and Edou Mendy both in contention. Kepa started our previous game in the FA Cup against Plymouth, while Marcus Bettinelli played there in the third round against Chesterfield.

‘Kepa or Edou? I don’t want to give away the line-up yet,’ the boss responded when asked who will start in between the sticks. ‘The decision has already been made, the goalkeepers know about it, but I don’t want to give it away yet.’

Tuchel was supportive regarding the mentality and confidence of Kepa, who was the only Blues player to miss a penalty at Wembley last Sunday.

‘He brought us to Wembley. We needed already two penalty shoot-outs and he saved the decisive penalties for us,’ Tuchel said. ‘So he was hugely involved and responsible that we had this final. He won the penalty shoot-out in the Super Cup. He is responsible that we have a match today because he saves the penalty against Plymouth in extra time.

‘So he did his job in a fantastic manner, but the penalties were well taken and the momentum was not on our side in the shoot-out. To blame a goalkeeper for missing would be like if you blame an outfield player for not saving a penalty,’ he added.

‘It is simply not his job and it’s almost like tossing a coin in the end if all the penalties are taken so well. So there was no blame on him, absolutely no blame.’

The Bavarian also said he has been impressed by the Spaniard’s reaction having watched him train at Cobham in the build-up to the trip to Kenilworth Road.

‘I found him very focused in training. Relaxed in a way, because of course he had a huge disappointment, and he was disappointed about the outcome. But I found him after a day off relaxed and very well prepared in training.’

Our German head coach was also asked about Romelu Lukaku, who again started on the bench in the Carabao Cup final due to the form of Kai Havertz in the striker position.

‘The players never like it, and the big players they absolutely hate it, if sometimes they are out and sometimes the coach takes the decision to rest them, but look how sharp Jorgi looked. It was only 15 minutes but he looked super sharp. Romelu looked good, Timo looks better,’ Tuchel said.

‘It is sometimes like this from experience that you need a breather if you work so heavily and you are like a bit stuck and everything feels a bit tight and hard for you. Sometimes it helps to take a step back, let the others do the hard work who feel a bit more comfortable and come from the bench and take a breath.

‘It was a very good performance from Rom and from Jorgi as well, like I said.’