Christian Pulisic admitted he was ‘stunned and very disappointed’ by a decision made by Thomas Tuchel during his Champions League winning season.
Pulisic has revealed what happened when he was left on the bench for Chelsea’s semi-final second leg against Real Madrid in 2021.
He scored in the first leg in a 1-1 draw in Spain but was furious that he didn’t start the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Pulisic wrote in his forthcoming book ‘Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far’: “What happened before this match was extremely disappointing for me.
“I had a very good performance in the first leg and our next game was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he rested me for the second leg and that suddenly I did not play a single minute in the Fulham game.
“Then on the day of the second semi-final match, Tuchel tells me that he has changed his mind and is leaving with Kai. [Havertz].
“Honestly, I was stunned and very disappointed. I thought I deserved a start and most importantly he assured me before that I was going to start.
The friction between Pulisic and Tuchel was evident, with the USA international’s father saying his son’s situation was ‘sad’.
There was speculation the striker could also leave Stamford Bridge over the summer, having been linked with a move to Manchester United which never materialized.
However, Pulisic could now have a future at the club, with Tuchel being sacked in September and replaced by Graham Potter.