Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has praised his team’s performance and contribution to an engrossing League Cup final on Sunday, but suggested there was a “weird” element to one of the efforts his team had chalked off for offside.
While there were no goals which stood after 120 minutes, before Liverpool won 11-10 in a penalty shoot-out, both teams saw celebrations cut short after thinking they had broken the deadlock.
Joel Matip’s close-range header was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check for the Reds, while Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku both saw efforts immediately turned down by offside flags for Chelsea.
However, Tuchel believes the latter in particular was not as cut-and-dried a decision as it appeared to be, questioning the validity of the on-screen measurements.
“I have a feeling that we created a bit more. We were a bit more there but maybe that’s subjective. This game could have easily could have gone either way. You need a bit of luck, you need a bit of momentum to win it,” he said after full-time.
“If you look at the line that is drawn on the goal from Romelu, it is a bit of a weird line, I have to say. Where it’s drawn and to then make the decision that it is offside but that’s it.
“We can’t have any regrets. I’m very proud of the performance. I told the guys we shouldn’t lose sleep about this.“It was an entertaining match of football, full of intensity, and I’m very, very happy to have had the chance to be part of it. It was excellent.”
While disappointed to have ultimately lost out in his second domestic cup final in England, Tuchel pointed to the ability of Liverpool and the fact the Stamford Bridge club pushed them all the way as evidence of a top performance.
“We have to accept the quality of the opponent. This is maybe the most dangerous attacking side in Europe at the moment and they are full of individual quality and playing such a high rhythm.
“Defending like this and playing like this on this level made me very proud today. I saw a brilliant match of football, all 120 minutes, and we played a huge part in it.
“If you want to blame someone, blame me. Today it took 11 penalties to find a winner. There are no regrets.”
Chelsea remain in contention for silverware elsewhere, as they are in the fifth round of the FA Cup and hold a two-goal lead after the first leg of their last-16 Champions League clash.
