Leicester City failed to capitalise as Chelsea qualified for the Champions League despite a final-day slip-up against Aston Villa. So, Chelsea were left breathing a sigh of relief at the final whistle – and it was not quite a nervy as it might have been towards the end.
Thomas Tuchel said: “I knew three or four minutes before our game was over (that Chelsea were in the top four), because the game at Leicester was over a bit earlier and it was clear we were through. It’s a good thing (finishing in the top four). It’s a strange situation as we hate to lose and we’re never happy when we lose. This feeling will never go away whether it’s a match that matters on the last day of the season and has a huge impact like this, or it is a defeat that changes the fixture. For us, luckily, that will never change or feel good. This is part of us we should all accept. At the same time, it’s a bit strange that we produce again numbers in this defeat when we normally would say we should be the deserved winners but we are not. So it’s a strange feeling again to let it slip through our hands but be able to produce strong performances. For the third reason it feels awkward is that in the end there’s a big outcome and a huge objective that we reached. It was the main objective and main target. It was a big achievement from all the players and everybody who helps us. We’re so happy we made it because we produced results to get into the situation that it was possible to lose and still be in the top four. All this is now done and the huge mix of feelings needs to settle.”
Chelsea now prepare for their Champions League final showdown against Manchester City in Porto on Saturday. But they go into that on the back of three defeats in their past four matches. That included the FA Cup final loss to Leicester, while the win came against the Foxes in a crucial league encounter a few days later. Asked about Chelsea’s recent form,
Thomas Tuchel said: “It concerns me because it always concerns me when you lose. It’s not so easy to get a grip on these losses to analyse them because the data and statistics we produced, the performances we produced, do not indicate it’s necessary to lose or logical to lose. But the fact is we did and we are concerned because, as I said, it’s the worst feeling to lose. We can’t deny performance. Sometimes it’s a bit too much that we are unlucky. In the last weeks, I don’t want to stress it too much because it seems we talk about it too many times. But it is like this. We are simply not lucky enough in these games, maybe we didn’t push it enough or whatever. We are looking for reasons but we can’t deny that we had good performances and we win these game sin all statistics that are relevant to the game. We finished in the top four, unfortunately, lose a cup final, now we have another final in the Champions League. It’s normally a very unique match and we are aware we deserve to arrive there. We worked hard, had crucial moments, had opponents to overcome. This is pretty much it. So yes and no, we are concerned but from Wednesday on there are no doubts, no point fingers, no second thoughts. It’s only all-in for Saturday’s match.”
