Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has delivered his verdict on Club America ahead of the pre-season fixture in Las Vegas.
Their 2022 pre-season schedule gets underway against the Liga MX side, which will kickstart the squad’s preparations for the 2022/23 campaign that is just three weeks away.
The players will be looking to build up their match fitness and sharpness, and will come up against a good test because of Club America already starting their new season.
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Club America, managed by Fernando Ortiz, are three games into their season - winning one, drawing one, and losing the other - and will provide a challenging but welcomed fitness test for the Blues.
Thomas Tuchel won’t be too concerned about the result, he will be eager to see performance and progression throughout pre-season, that will then, hopefully, produce the wins.
The 48-year-old was asked ahead of the game about Chelsea’s opponents at the weekend, and despite not knowing much about the Mexican outfit, he has been studying them.
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“My interest in general in Mexican football comes from individual players,” Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference at the Allegiant Stadium,
“Of course there have been many Mexican players in the German Bundesliga who have made their name, many players who have had a big career abroad, so we are very well aware of the individual quality and of the enthusiasm.
“We are very well aware of the importance of the national team of Mexico and how strong they are in every World Cup.
"I don't have a full overview of the Mexican league to be very honest, but of course now we analyse this opponent.
Tuchel added: “At this moment in pre-season it's also the moment to focus on us and give our players and our situation the full support and the full focus.
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“Club America’s league is playing already so they are in a different physical situation than us and normally they're a very physical, very aggressive team. Let's see with big names and big personalities how this will work out but we expect an intense match.”
Chelsea will be without Armando Broja due to injury, while Raheem Sterling is unlikely to make his first appearance for the Blues since his arrival from Manchester City.
“For Raheem, we have not decided the line up but he did not train every minute with the team so it is not very likely that he will play,” Tuchel concluded on team news.
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"He had a little accident yesterday in training with the ball control and landed in a funny way on his ankle and Achilles,” added the Blues boss on Broja.
“He is in pain but nothing is injured – we did the examinations and it's just pain. He is lucky that he did not get injured. We are lucky and happy that he did not injure himself.
"He is not in training and he is in treatment, Armando.”
Topics: Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea
Matthew Debono