Kante, Pulisic to miss Chelsea’s clash with Zenit

Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has been ruled out of his club’s Champions League opener against Zenit St Petersburg.

Blues manager Thomas Tuchel said on Monday, ahead of their Group H clash against the Russian side, that Kante, who has been struggling with an ankle injury this season and was substituted at halftime against Liverpool before the international break, had it aggravated and is yet to return since dropping out of France’s World Cup qualifiers.

Tuchel had hoped to have the midfield workhorse back for Zenit’s visit but now expects the 30-year-old to return for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

“N’Golo had two training sessions yesterday and trained again today but the Champions League game comes a bit too early for him” Tuchel told a news conference ahead of Tuesday’s match at Stamford Bridge.

“We won’t take the risk with him now at this moment of the season. We have decided to give him another load in training tomorrow… (he will) train with us all on Friday to be ready totally for Tottenham.”

Tuchel added Chelsea will also be without American forward Christian Pulisic, who continues to recover from an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, Tuchel was emphatic that their £50-million signing Ben Chilwell must be patient to make his debut because Marcos Alonso remains the preferred wing back on the left.

“It’s been difficult for him, from a Champions League win, then it was individually for him a tough Euros because he felt he could have played a part for England,” Tuchel said.

“When I arrived I felt he was mentally tired which is unlucky because Alonso had a full pre-season. We had some talks with Chilly… He’s in the race now and with a good mental attitude.”

The last time Chelsea tried to defend their Champions’ League crown ended early as they were knocked out in the group stages and captain Cesar Azpilicueta says they want to avoid a repeat of the elimination which cost coach Roberto Di Matteo his job in 2012.

“It was a very bad experience, painful because I came from (Olympique de) Marseille and when I arrived to Chelsea just after they won, it was a tough moment to be out at the group stage,” Azpilicueta said.

“I want to help make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

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