Thomas Tuchel admits to underperformance against Zagreb

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his side underperformed in tonight’s Champions League clash against Dinamo Zagreb.

Chelsea made a miserable start to their Champions League campaign as Dinamo Zagreb ruined Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s debut with a shock 1-0 victory.

Thomas Tuchel’s side were expected to cruise through Group E after being drawn with Dinamo, Red Bull Salzburg and AC Milan.

But their task might not be so simple after Mislav Orsic’s first-half strike punished the Blues for another sloppy display in Zagreb.

“It’s an underperformance from us. We have the same story as always. We have an OK start, we don’t finish our half chances, we don’t feel it when the game is already there to put to bed in the first 15/20 minutes,” Tuchel told BT Sport.

“Then we concede one counter-attack, which is far too easy, and from there we struggled.

“Too much to analyse. I’m a part of it. We are clearly not there, where we need to be and where we can be. So it’s on me, it’s on us, we need to find solutions. At the moment, everything is missing.”

Having spent £250 million ($280m) on new signings since the end of last season, Tuchel is under pressure to deliver silverware in return.

But Chelsea’s spending spree has yet to pay dividends, with no eye-catching performances in the Premier League and now three successive away defeats in all competitions.

It was a debut to forget for Aubameyang, who joined Chelsea in a £10.3m deadline-day deal from Barcelona just months after the acrimonious end to his time at Arsenal.

The 33-year-old had played for just eight minutes this season and only trained with Chelsea for the first time on Sunday.

Whether it was the mask or his unfamiliarity with his new team-mates, Aubameyang looked uncomfortable as he struggled to escape the Croatian champions’ stifling defence.

The first ominous sign came when he didn’t attack the near post as Kai Havertz whipped in a tempting low cross.

Moments later, Aubameyang ran clean through on goal, but took too long to decide whether to shoot or pass to Raheem Sterling, allowing Zagreb to avert the danger.

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Chelsea monopolised possession in the early stages, but they were caught cold by a ruthless Dinamo counter in the 13th minute.

Despite spending a combined £100m on Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly, who both started in Chelsea’s defence, Tuchel’s men have had a soft centre so far this term and Orsic exploited that weakness.