Thomas Tuchel called for calm and insisted it is business as usual on the pitch following Russian owner Roman Abramovich's decision to pass stewardship to Chelsea's trustees.
Abramovich announced on Saturday, a day before the Blues' EFL Cup final penalty shoot-out loss to Liverpool, that he is taking a step back from his involvement with the club.
That announcement came three days after Russia began its military invasion of Ukraine to widespread international condemnation.
But ahead of Wednesday's FA Cup fifth-round tie with Luton Town, Tuchel is not letting talk surrounding Abramovich – and wider events in Ukraine – distract his players.
"We try to be calm here," he said at Tuesday's pre-match news conference. "We are calm in the centre of a storm or some noise around us we cannot control.
"We are not responsible for it. In the end it's best to stay calm and focus on what we love and what we do. This is sports.
"We have a right to focus on sports, the players have a right to be focused. This is what we can tell the fans, I think this is what the fans saw on Sunday.
"There is a big situation out there. A lot of commitment from the players of both clubs, from the fans. I think everybody is aware there are more important things.
"The situation in Ukraine is by far much more important than football. Still, there was a full stadium. Still, we arrived two teams, strong teams, who played a fantastic match.
"This is what we can do for the fans, to distract them and entertain them. To do what we do with maximum effort and commitment.
"I don't see any other solution what we can do different."
Probed further on events that are escalating in Ukraine, and whether Abramovich should remain the owner of Chelsea, Tuchel grew irritated with the line of questioning.
"You have to stop. I am not a politician. Honestly, I can only repeat it," he said. "I even feel bad to repeat it, to talk about it. I have never experienced war.
"I am feeling very privileged, I sit here in peace. I do the best I can. You have to stop asking me these questions. I have no answers to you.
"You always start the question with the same sentence: 'There's much more important things than football, can you comment?'. You decide also to ask me about war.
"How often do I need to say it? It's horrible. There cannot be any other opinion about it. That's it. Why should we be more distracted than you at work?
"That's what I mean when I said it in the first place. It's out there. There's more important things out there. This will never change. It's about sports.
"There's a lot more important things out there. Still, there is a huge distraction going on. We are worried.
"In the end we try and create an atmosphere to come to work, which is our passion. We are very, very grateful and privileged to have it and it's not that big of a problem.
"Everybody in Europe has some noise in his head that nobody likes. Maybe the same for you but still you try to do your job as good as possible, the same for us."
Chelsea's six-match winning run in all competitions was ended with Sunday's defeat to Liverpool at Wembley, albeit in a game that finished goalless at the end of 120 minutes.
The Blues now have a second game in the space of four days as they head into an FA Cup tie at second-tier Luton.
After suffering a rare defeat in a major final, Tuchel is hopeful his side can quickly respond this week.
"It should not be too hard to lift the team after Sunday," he said. "Everybody knows we played a strong match to our identity, with full commitment and a lot of quality.
"You can never control the result. A winner had to be found and it was found after 22 penalties. That tells the story. That should not be the problem.
"It's only two days. We gave a day off to clear our minds. It was not only a disappointment but physically training, demanding.
"That leaves us with a one day turnaround to be ready for tomorrow. It's another competition; that's life at Chelsea.
"We want to be competitive, we want to be in different competitions, so we have to be ready. Is that always easy? Maybe not.
"This is what we do, what we demand. From me, myself and everybody around the team, last but not least from the players. This is where we are."
Tuchel confirmed that Chelsea have a "massive list" of absentees ahead of facing the Hatters, with Hakim Ziyech among those out of contention for Wednesday's contest.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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