Thomas Tuchel says Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was that his Blues simply weren’t good enough.
Also, turns out Man City is pretty good.
“City played a part in this,” Tuchel said. “Making you underperform is also a kind of performance.”
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Tuchel had Pep Guardiola’s number in recent meetings, most notably Chelsea’s capture of the European Cup last Spring, but City appeared determined to get a measure of vengeance.
“We lost the game and City deserved to win,” Tuchel said. “For 60 minutes we were very very strong, but there were 80 meters where we were not good enough with ball possession, to switch up play, to hurt them, and to grow in confidence.”
All that said, Tuchel knows he was one deflected shot shy of 0-0.
That won’t satisfy Chelsea fans who expect their team to push their game on the opposition, especially at home.
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“Until we conceded we defended really well but this is only part of the day,” Tuchel said. “We were simply not on our very best level and you need your best level to put a game like this on your side. ... We tried to push and got our crowd behind us. It was an emotional game but never on our highest level and that’s why you can never expect to get the result.”
A trip to Juventus is up next for Chelsea, then a Premier League visit from Southampton.