"It's Tottenham against Chelsea, not me against Jose," Tuchel said during his pre-match press conference.
"I am very happy to compete with a strong team against his side, with a squad with our quality, mentality and the atmosphere we're in right now.
"Was he a role model? Honestly, when I started my career he was so far away, like the moon from the earth. I was coaching in an academy and was then promoted, from there on I just enjoyed every day.
"I have no doubts he is one of the best managers in the world and has created a squad at Tottenham that is always competitive, very strong. That is the challenge.
"I think it's very clear what he stands for. He builds competitive and strong teams. He has built a Tottenham squad with characters like Sissoko, Hojbjerg that support the defence.
"They have great players upfront: Harry, Son, Bergwijn, Bale. The challenge for us is to beat them. We are very excited to have these challenges."
This game will be Thomas Tuchel's biggest test at the start of his career and beating Jose Mourinho would be quite the statement if the German can manage it.
