“We are lucky that Tottenham did the job for us and finished the job for us today. As I said, we came to win and to put any doubts to the side but it was not possible,” Tuchel said.
“We are in the position, we are in it, that it was possible to end in the top four even with a defeat and that was possible because of the team’s hard work and consistently good results.
“We need to adjust details and we need to be spot-on on Saturday as we want a positive outcome. I knew it maybe three or four minutes before our game was over because the game at Leicester was over a bit earlier, so we knew about the result and that it was clear we were through.
“It was our main target but clearly, we did not play or prepare for the occasion today. We prepared for the match and the target was to win the match and I think that, again, we can win this match.
The Blues went 2-0 down at Villa Park after both Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi scored, with Ben Chilwell’s 70th-minute strike not enough to avoid defeat.
Thomas Tuchel’s side spent much of the 90 minutes outside the top four in the live table and pushed to secure at least a draw by bringing both Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech on from the bench.
Making matters slightly worse, Cesar Azpilicueta got a late red card for slapping Jack Grealish in the face, which signified the emotions on show in the Midlands.
However, even after a host of missed chances, they couldn’t find an equalizer and needed help from their London rivals to get over the line in the league.
Ada Peter
