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Thomas Tuchel took the blame himself for Chelsea failing to beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final, despite much of the limelight being on one man he sent on.

Chelsea had won three cup finals under Tuchel over the past 12 months: the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup. However, he missed out on a first piece of domestic silverware in English football by the narrowest of margins.

The Carabao Cup final against Liverpool ended goalless after 90 minutes and extra time. It was decided by a penalty shootout in which all 20 outfield takers scored.

But Chelsea ended up losing when Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher scored and Chelsea counterpart Kepa Arrizabalaga skied his attempt.

It was significant, since Tuchel had dropped Kepa to the bench in favour of usual number one Edouard Mendy for the match. He then took Mendy off for Kepa as penalties approached. However, the Spaniard didn’t save any of the 11 he faced and then missed the decisive penalty.

Therefore, it would be easy to point the finger of blame at Kepa. However, his manager does not want that to be the case.

Tuchel told a post-match press conference: “We feel bad for him, of course. It was a bit harsh that he was the guy to miss the one and only penalty but there is no blame.

“I take the decisions when I take the decisions and I can’t re-judge them when I know the outcome. 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.”

He added of the decision: “The players know and we did it before. It’s a nice subject now for you to make headlines. But mistakes happen.

“I do mistakes; Edou did a big mistake and almost got punished.

“It makes easier if we have a big feeling. But blame me as I take the decisions.”

Tuchel proud of Chelsea performance

Liverpool were statistically the better side, managing more possession and shots. But Chelsea had their own chances, as well as a couple of disallowed goals for offsides.

Tuchel knew all along the game would be tight and has to accept how formidable their opponents were. Still, he thought either side could have won it. And if one of their offside goals counted, it would have been them.

He explained: “We have to also accept the quality of the moment. They are maybe the best attacking side in Europe at the moment. So defending like this and playing like this made me very proud today.

“I had the feeling we created a bit more, were a bit more there. But maybe that is subjective. The game could’ve gone either way. We needed some momentum to win it.

“It’s a bit of a weird line where it is drawn and then to make the decision it’s offside.”

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