Chelsea’s top-four race is ‘not done’ despite sealing vital Leicester win, warns Thomas Tuchel

Chelsea will finish in the top four if they beat Aston Villa on the final day

Jamie Braidwood
Tuesday 18 May 2021 17:58 EDT
Comments
Thomas Tuchel’s side face Manchester City in the Champions League final on 29 May
Thomas Tuchel’s side face Manchester City in the Champions League final on 29 May (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Thomas Tuchel insisted the Premier League’s top-four race is “not done” after his Chelsea side defeated Leicester to leave their Champions League qualification hopes in their own hands.

Second-half goals from Antonio Rudiger and Jorginho earned Chelsea a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge to avenge Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat to Brendan Rodgers’ side.

The result moved Chelsea above Leicester in the Premier League table ahead of the final day of the season and the Blues will secure third place if they beat Aston Villa on Sunday.

Tuchel also praised the impact of the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge, as supporters returned to Premier League stadiums for the first time since December.

“It was an outstanding performance but the job is not done,” Tuchel told BBC Sport. “The fans made a huge difference. The speed in our game, the hunger, the ambition. It was a very strong performance and I’m delighted the team can present itself like this in front of our fans.

“It’s still in our hands. We need another huge performance but with fans in the Aston Villa ground it will be super hard.”

Chelsea’s defeat to Arsenal last week meant that Leicester would have secured their place in the top four with three points at Stamford Bridge tonight, while it also left Liverpool with the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League with wins in their final two games.

“We were fired up from our loss against Arsenal,” Tuchel added. “Today we did what we do. We played courageous, high intensity, aggressive. Happy to have the win but I need to repeat, it’s not done.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in