The Paris Saint-Germain coach tells us about his lockdown experience, and how he is keeping in contact with his staff and his squad.
"It's a strange situation, but at the same time, my family and I are in good health." It's with a smile - as usual - and a reassuring tone that the Paris coach starts off when telling us what has happened in over a month since his side defeated Dortmund on 11 March. "It's been five weeks. It's a long break, but we have to be disciplined and respect the situation. We have a responsibility. I try to stay in the present, it's a big challenge, to stay calm and meditate. I sleep and read a lot. I'm taking advantage of some down-time."
He nonetheless remains in contact with his squad. "We talk a lot with each other, with the staff, we prepare individual programmes for the players, recommendations. I send messages to the players with their programme and I get their news, but not too much. I let them be a bit." While the players are working hard, the coach has had to adapt to a new way of working. "What's difficult is that we don't know when it'll finish. If we knew when it was going to finish, we could start talking about tactics, attitude...but right now, no-one knows when it's going to finish."
And while he waits, Tuchel takes a step back from it all: "I watch beIN Sports a lot as they are showing a lot of our games. I've seen our two matches with Marseille, the ones against Dortmund, Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux...It's good to calmly watch the games." And what is he missing most? "Being together, I really miss that."
Before saying his goodbyes, the coach put some perspective on the situation: "There are more important things than football. Of course we wish for all of Europe and the world to be healthy. I hope we can restart playing in order to distract all those people who have to stay at home, sometimes in difficult situations, who are afraid for their family. Football is a good escape. We have to stay strong and not lose faith. It's important to smile, to stay calm. It's not easy, but it's possible."