The Christensen mystery as Chelsea defender disappears from squad
The futre Barça man has not been involved in Chelsea's last three games
Tied down by Barcelona for several months, Andreas Christensen is not having a great second half of the season at Chelsea. Despite the fact the English side know he will leave in the summer, coach Thomas Tuchel has continued to use him. Until April 20, in a 2-4 derby defeat to Arsenal when he was taken off at the break after an error that cost his side a goal.
Everyone thought, as was the case before against Real Madrid, Tuchel had taken him off for a technical decision, but the German coach denied that. "Andreas asked for the change, he didn't feel right," he said. He had not appeared to have any problems during that 45 minutes against the Gunners, but he has not appeared since then. In the three games Chelsea have played since, including Sunday's defeat to Everton, he has not even been on the bench.
NATIONS LEAGUE, HOLIDAY & BARÇA
A few days ago, Tuchel commented that he had stomach problems, but he was expected to return for Manchester United and Everton. He missed both games. The Danish defender will join Barça preseason after some time off, but before then he will take part in the group stage of the Nations League with his country. Denmark are in group A-1 with Austria, Croatia and France.
In any case, there should not be any concerns over the centre-back. Chelsea have four games left this season. In theory, a Champion League place should be assured (they have a five-point gap to Tottenham in fifth) but there is still work to be done. Christensen and Antonio Rudiger are both out of contract and will leave for sure (the German to Real Madrid), but there are other players in a compromised situation.
A lot will depend on what happens with the sale of the club after sanctions on Roman Abramovich forced the Russian to leave the club.
