Thomas Tuchel revealed that he substituted Ruben Loftus-Cheek purely to prepare for the looming penalty shootout against Liverpool at Wembley. The German coach believed that Ross Barkley was more equipped for the moment.
Once again, nothing could separate Chelsea and Liverpool other than sudden death in a penalty shootout. Both sides went goalless in normal and extra-time before misses from Cesar Azpilicueta, and Sadio Mane pushed penalties beyond the five selected takers.
Mason Mount missed the crucial penalty for the Blues as Kosta Tsimikas' strike handed Liverpool the FA Cup trophy. Chelsea had once again fallen at the final hurdle.
Loftus-Cheek was restricted in the impact he could have on the match and was only introduced in the second period of extra-time against the Reds. The Cobham product could not see out the final 15 minutes and found himself being replaced by the rarely seen Barkley with just minutes remaining before penalties awaited.
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Tuchel said: "No [he was not injured] that was purely for penalties. Ruben doesn't have a good history, and Ross has. So it was down to the penalties."
While the margins were narrow on the day, and Chelsea have earned draws within 90 minutes on all four occasions they have played Liverpool this season, the Reds have pushed Man City for the Premier League title and made the final in the Champions League this term. The Blues boss believes the quality of Jurgen Klopp's squad depth has ensured the gap so far.
Tuchel added: "We proved four times this season that we can produce peak performances to compete with them at this kind of level. All the results were deserved and could've gone our way or their way.
"The difference for me throughout the season is they can do it Wednesday-Saturday, Wednesday-Saturday. They arrived with a big squad, everybody but Fabinho, in a good rhythm. We had many players out and N'Golo with one training session and Mateo playing with an ankle that I didn't know it was possible to fit into a shoe. This is where the gap comes from."
