Thomas Tuchel has revealed he explained to Conor Gallagher in person why Chelsea could not allow the on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder to play in their FA Cup semi-final.
Chelsea meet Palace in the last four of the competition at Wembley on Sunday, but breakout star Gallagher will be merely a spectator.
The England international belongs to Chelsea but is yet to make a senior appearance for the club, instead establishing himself as a top Premier League midfielder for Palace this season.
Gallagher has scored eight goals and provided five assists in all competitions in 2021-22, including two assists in four FA Cup matches prior to the semis.
That sort of form shows why Chelsea could not accommodate Palace's request to allow him to play this weekend. The Blues have won both matches against Palace in his absence this season, extending a winning run in the fixture to nine games.
"I had the chance to speak to Conor and I could also see his frustration," Tuchel said ahead of the match. "We met some weeks ago, after the international break, by coincidence in a restaurant.
"We had a chat, and the subject came up. I apologised, because I know how competitive he is, and I like him a lot. I know his character very well, and it was a pleasure to have him here in pre-season.
"This is the way it is. We play to win the game. The rules were clear when we made the loan.
"I can totally understand Patrick Vieira and the disappointment of Conor, but these were the rules when we made the loan, and we don't want to suffer from our rules."
Chelsea must still take on an England international brought through their academy, however, with Marc Guehi a permanent Palace signing last year.
Guehi, like Gallagher, has impressed at Palace, while Tino Livramento has been one of Southampton's star performers this season, but Tuchel explained their sales could not be reassessed with hindsight.
"It's a decision we took together. We are happy about these decisions," he said. "We cannot go back and reflect, because at the point where we took the decision it was the right thing to do, given the circumstances.
"It's very individual decisions. For Tino Livramento, for example, we had a plan and we preferred a loan, but he saw his future to go, and the situation was then better to agree to the sale.
"For Marc, it is a fantastic development. It's very hard or maybe even impossible to say if we had kept him he would be better or worse or the same. Maybe he needed exactly that, maybe he needed a change of environment, maybe he needed a different club, maybe he needed a bigger role, more minutes to develop your full potential.
"It just tells you over and over again that if you trust younger players and if you have a role for them, they can on a very regular level match your expectations or even over-perform.
"It's nice to see there are so many Chelsea players out there in every league. We are very well aware of it, and it's also nice to play against them and see them develop."
Chelsea still have academy graduates in their first team, with Mason Mount leading the way in terms of goal involvements (25 – 11 goals, 14 assists) this term.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (31), Reece James (30), Callum Hudson-Odoi (28) and Trevoh Chalobah (26) have each made more than 25 appearances for the Blues in 2021-22.
"We will always use as many academy players as possible," Tuchel said.
"Like I said many times before, it makes the club very special and makes every team in the world very special if you have the mix between world-class players, between big personalities from abroad, from outside the club, with the academy boys.
"I think it's very important also with the academy boys to match the level, to realise the level of commitment, of professionalism of players who come from other clubs, who bring the best of their cultures.
"It's very, very important for our youngsters to accept that mix and accept that challenge. Then it can be very special. This is what makes teams special, that there are players from the academy."
Flick: Barcelona need to learn how to win without Yamal
Hansi Flick has urged Barcelona to find a way to win without the absent Lamine Yamal, as he misses a second consecutive match with an ankle injury.
The 17-year-old missed their 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad which halted Barca's seven-match winning streak in all competitions before the international break.
Yamal has only missed two LaLiga matches since the start of last season, while Barcelona have lost both games this campaign in which he has not started, after coming off the bench in a 4-2 loss to Osasuna in September.
Flick said that his players need to show that they can win without their teenage sensation.
"Tomorrow I will put the question to the team, it will be a very good question for them [if they can win without Yamal]," Flick told a press conference on Friday.
"Against Real Sociedad, we didn't play well, and it wasn't because of Lamine's absence. He is a very important player for us, but we have options to also play well without him.
"He won't be able to play tomorrow, we don't know when he will be able to go back from his injury, but what is clear for me is that we want him to be back only when he is 100% recovered."
Yamal played a big role in Spain's European Championship title win earlier this year in Germany, winning the best goal and the Young Player of the Tournament award in his breakthrough campaign.
He continued to thrive this season with five goals and seven assists to help Barca to the top of the LaLiga standings on 33 points, six ahead of rivals Real Madrid, who have a game in hand in second place.
Yamal is also the only player across Europe's big five leagues to complete 25+ dribbles (34), create 25+ chances (26), have 25+ shots (39), score 5+ goals (five) and provide 5+ assists (seven).
Flick suggested that he may have to adjust his system, as it is hard to replace a player with such a mixture of speed, technique and finishing.
"We might be a bit limited by the absence of Lamine," Flick said.
"But we have a lot of players with great quality, and they can play in different positions. We'll see what we'll need and we'll design the game plan.
"It's always important after the international break to come back strong and with confidence. That's our goal for tomorrow."
Moca FC's Baez, Correa sanctioned by Concacaf Disciplinary Committee for violent conduct in Carib Cup semis clash against Cavalier
The Concacaf Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned players Miguel Baez and Jesus Correa of Dominican Republic club Moca FC for incidents that occurred during their Concacaf Caribbean Cup second-leg semi-final match against Jamaica’s Cavalier FC on Thursday, October 30.
After considering the documentation and evidence gathered during its investigation and based on the competition regulations and the applicable disciplinary code, the Disciplinary Committee has imposed Miguel Baez a six-match suspension and Jesus Correa a three-match suspension for violent conduct.
The sanctions include the automatic one-match suspension for the on-field direct red cards given to each player during that 7-0 beating in Kingston.
Both Baez and Correa must serve their suspensions during the upcoming 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup third-place matches and future editions of the competition.
Moca FC is scheduled to meet Haiti's Real Hope FC in that home-and-away tie on November 26 and December 3 to determine the next Caribbean representative that will contest next year's Concacaf Champions Cup. Finalists Cavalier and Cibao FC, also of the Dominican Republic, have secured automatic berths.
Meanwhile, the Disciplinary Committee has also warned the players and the club that more severe sanctions could be taken should incidents occur during future matches.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with AC Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to AC Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A, but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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