Marc Cucurella urges Chelsea to handle the heat in fight for Champions League | OneFootball

Marc Cucurella has told his Chelsea team-mates they need to handle the pressure of the fight for Champions League qualification if they are to edge across the finishing line.

The Blues’ hopes of securing a top-five finish were dealt a blow on Sunday when they went down 2-0 at fellow contenders Newcastle to leave themselves in fifth place, but level on points with Aston Villa and just one ahead of final-day opponents Nottingham Forest.

Enzo Maresca’s men host Manchester United on Friday evening before the trip to the City Ground with their fate still in their own hands, but needing to hold their nerve after a bruising afternoon on Tyneside.

Cucurella told the club’s official website: “Every game in this league is tough and the table shows it’s still tight. This is one of the best leagues in the world.

“We are preparing for this and we need to show we can play under pressure if we want to achieve our objectives. We need to play the game that we planned and show we are ready to play in these types of games.”

Chelsea – or more accurately striker Nicolas Jackson – did not handle that pressure at St James’ Park in a first half which left them with a mountain to climb.

Already trailing to Sandro Tonali’s second-minute goal, the visitors struggled to make an impression against Eddie Howe’s men and shot themselves in the foot when Jackson thrust his elbow into defender Sven Botman’s face as the pair challenged for a high ball and, after a VAR review, was dismissed.

To their credit the Londoners, who will now have to do without the frontman for the remainder of the campaign, were much improved after a half-time reshuffle which saw Reece James take over from Moises Caicedo at right-back, allowing the Ecuador international to return to his more accustomed midfield role.

Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez both tested goalkeeper Nick Pope as Chelsea pushed for an equaliser, and it was not until Bruno Guimaraes’ deflected 90th-minute shot looped over Robert Sanchez and into the net that the Magpies cemented a priceless win.

“We are disappointed. We know it was an important game and we lost. We are upset,” the Spanish defender added.

“Now is the moment to show character. Everything we have been building towards, we need to show now. We need to forget this game, take the positives, we need to be proud of our effort when we played with 10 men, and we should be happy with our effort.

“We played very well at points and we were in the game until the end and we created chances. Now we need to forget this game because we have an important game on Friday.”