Micah Richards believes Chelsea are a “frightening” prospect for Manchester City this weekend as he admitted he was wrong in doubting Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel took over the Blues from Frank Lampard in January and has been a revelation at Stamford Bridge since being appointed.
An unfortunate defeat to Leicester City in the FA Cup final was tough to take for the German coach, but he managed to secure a top-four spot for the west London club, despite a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa on the final day of the season.
Now, Tuchel is preparing for his biggest game in the Chelsea dugout yet, with his side coming head-to-head with Manchester City in the Champions League final on Saturday evening.
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Richards, formerly of City, has explained why he is quite fearful of coming up against Chelsea, as the Manchester-based club look for their first-ever European crown.
Speaking on BBC 5 Live Sport’s Monday Night Club, the former City right-back said: “When [Thomas] Tuchel came in, I didn’t see it.
“I didn’t think he’d be able to transform this team in the way he has, so soon, I didn’t see it.
“He’s made me eat my words. This Chelsea team now are frightening.
“On the counter-attack now, they have the best counter-attack.
“Mason Mount, the way he gets into the pockets – and Werner. People love to do memes about [Timo] Werner and him missing chances but if you see the work and movement and his runs in behind… it’s scary.
“This is a proper Chelsea team now. If they play to their standards, they can hurt Man City – of course they can.”
In Tuchel’s last two meetings with City boss Pep Guardiola, Chelsea have won both matches by a single goal.
The first was an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, with Hakim Ziyech scoring the only goal of the game.
More recently, the Blues overturned a one-goal deficit to beat the newly-crowned Premier League champions 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.