Thomas Tuchel knew his side were going to win the Champions League tonight – although he never publicly admitted it.
The Chelsea boss has etched his name into Stamford Bridge folklore less than six months into his tenure after delivering the greatest prize of all.
Tuchel of course fell short at this stage last season as Bayern Munich defeated his Paris Saint-Germain side 1-0 in Lisbon.
But Tuchel earned his shot at redemption in his new colours and this time his troops got over the line.
He has now explained how he had a good feeling that this was Chelsea’s time all week, something he told several members of his backroom staff.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s incredible, what a fight. We made it 1-0, I didn’t know what to feel actually,” he told BT Sport.
“I was so grateful to arrive in the final for a second time [after what happened last season].
“Still I had the feeling, this would be different. It felt different, I told everyone that before.
“I just had a good feeling everyday that we would touch it [the trophy] in the end.”
Tuchel made a huge call in attack as he selected Kai Havertz to lead the line.
His judgment paid off when the forward netted the crucial winner at the end of the first half.
“For Kai, I was so happy,” Tuchel said. “It would have been nice in the moment to have gone 2-0 up though!
“It’s so hard to defend, there was deflected shots, throw ins, long balls but we got out the other side.
“It was very intense on the sideline, very fast.
“It was a tough match to step in, step out constantly and not lose your shape.”