Since Riverside Stadium lacks VAR technology, Pochettino’s team will play Middlesbrough in the Championship, with decisions made solely by on-field officials.
According to France24, In November, Chelsea defeated Tottenham in a match that featured nine video interventions, including five goals that were disallowed and two red cards given to Spurs players. It was possibly the most contentious match of the season for VAR.
Although there are those who argue that playing without VAR is a good thing, Pochettino knows his young team has grown up with the contentious system.
Several Chelsea players became professionals in 2018, around the time that Europe’s top flight leagues began to widely use VAR.
Additionally, Pochettino stated that the Blues need to exercise caution when dealing with novel situations.
“There’s no VAR. That is a thing we need to be careful of. Our normal attitude is to play with VAR. We need to be cautious of that,” he told reporters on Monday.
“We need to be in a different way in our approach. We need to change. Now, it’s just the referee that is going to decide, we need to be cautious.
“It’s a different game whether you play with or without VAR. I don’t say it’s better or worse, but it’s a different game. We need to be clever in this way.”
The clear favorites to make it to the final are Chelsea, who won the Club World Cup in 2021, a few months after winning the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel’s leadership.
Middlesbrough, who are currently 12th in the Championship and lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, are coached by former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick.
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Pochettino urged his team not to undervalue Middlesbrough, saying that “using all of our energy is the most important thing.”
“Not to go there and think ‘OK, we have the second leg after to play just in case (we lose)’.
“Tuesday is the most important game and we need to come back afterwards with a victory and to finish at Stamford Bridge.
“It’s going to be tough. The game against Aston Villa, they lost, but they could have won. It’s a good team with great ideas. It’s true they’ve changed their system.
“They played the season in a 4-2-3-1. We know they can use this or a different system. They have good players, a good coach. It’s going to be tough.”
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