Chelsea’s German coach Thomas Tuchel (R) celebrates with his family after winning the UEFA Champions League final football match at the Dragao stadium in Porto on May 29, 2021. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / POOL / AFP)
Eagle-eyed Chelsea fans will have spotted something slightly unusual during their Champions League celebrations on Saturday night, reports talksports.com.
The Blues conquered Manchester City, beating them 1-0 in Porto thanks to Kai Havertz’s decisive first-half strike.
At the full-time whistle, the party began for the Chelsea players.
Some – such as Edouard Mendy, Olivier Giroud, Kurt Zouma and Antonio Rudiger – bizarrely started kissing manager Thomas Tuchel’s shoes. In the dressing room, the boss was seen taking off his shoes and lifting them aloft like the trophy.
All the players around him joined in with this odd ritual, and the reason behind it has now been explained.
Tuchel revealed in one of his post-match interviews that the shoes were in fact a gift given to him last year by the PSG president.
He said he promised those at PSG that he’d wear them in their Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
However, he forgot and they lost the match 1-0.
This time around, he kept the shoes and made sure to wear them for Chelsea’s final due to the superstition.
“I had these shoes in Paris and I made a promise that we will wear these shoes when we reach the Champions League final,” Tuchel said.
“They were a present from the president at PSG and I promised my staff I would wear them in the final.
“I did not wear them, so we lost. I wore them today and they worked.”