CHELSEA manager Thomas Tuchel believes his side would have won the Carabao Cup final on Sunday with better luck.
The Blues were beaten 11-10 on penalties by Liverpool after full-time and extra-time ended in a 0-0 draw, with several goals disallowed for both sides in marginal decisions.
“Football can be a brilliant game and it was a brilliant game, no worries and no regrets,” the German coach said during his post-match interview.
“We gave everything and it was a brilliant match of football. The disallowed goal for Romelu is a very close call – there are bad feelings about this call.
“You need a bit of luck, we scored three times, had big chances, they had big chances. It was a fair result all the way to have a draw.”
Tuchel brought on goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in place of the excellent Edouard Mendy just before the shootout as the Spaniard is considered to be the better penalty stopper.
However, the move backfired spectacularly as Kepa not only failed to save any of Liverpool’s 11 kicks, he skied his own effort to hand the Reds the trophy.
“We did it before with Kepa, he is slightly better in penalty saving and that is why I made the decision,” Tuchel explained. “It is unusual all 11 players need to shoot, he took it a bit too quick. Sometimes these things can turn against you but you make them when they need to be made, not after when people can judge you.
“We don’t know what would’ve happened if we left Edou on the pitch. No blame on Kepa. Blame on me as I’m the guy who takes the decisions. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. This is life as a football coach.
“In the middle of the storm it is pretty calm. We can allow ourselves to focus on what we love the most, playing football. We know there are bigger things than football going on.”
With Sunday’s triumph at Wembley, Jurgen Klopp has now won five trophies as Liverpool manager: the Premier League, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and the Carabao Cup.
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