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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Chris Doyle

Thomas Tuchel pushes Jordan Henderson on tunnel cam after he forgets Cesar Azpilicueta

Thomas Tuchel playfully pushed Jordan Henderson out of his way during his and Jurgen Klopp's meeting with the referee before the FA Cup Final after forgetting to bring Cesar Azpilicueta.

The managers of Chelsea and Liverpool met with the officials before their clash at Wembley as both captains were allowed to be present.

Tuchel didn't get the memo, however, as he turned up without his skipper with Azpilicueta left in the dressing room. The German embraced his compatriot Klopp and then Henderson as the referee pointed it out to the Blues boss: "You're allowed your captain."

Tuchel proceeded to light-heartedly push Henderson out of the discussion as he went back to the Liverpool changing room, leaving the honours to the two managers.

Tuchel clearly has a lot of respect for Klopp and Liverpool but they were once again on the losing end to the Merseyside club after their penalty shootout defeat in Sunday's FA Cup final, a repeat of the Carabao Cup in February.

Speaking about how Chelsea can close the gap on Liverpool, he said: "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 (Kante) with one training session and Mateo (Kovacic) playing with an ankle that I didn't know it was possible to fit into a shoe. This is where the gap comes from."

Thomas Tuchel playfully pushed Jordan Henderson (YouTube: Liverpool FC)

What does Chelsea need to catch up to Liverpool? Let us know in the comment section below

Tuchel insists his squad have the mentality to win trophies despite the outcome of their previous two finals against the Reds. He added: "We have everything it takes to win trophies, we proved it by the way. We have a Club World Cup and a European Super Cup and I don't feel sorry this was at the beginning of the season and in winter.

"We were good in Champions League, strong in both domestic cups, we can produce peak performances and we have the mentality in the club to shape the mentality of the players, but Man City and Liverpool have shown you need this on a consistency."

Tuchel admits it will be hard to lift his players after the disappointing result, but it's not impossible as they still want to finish the season on a high.

He said: The best way is to be honest, we have two days off and then we need to prepare. The season has not finished and we have goals to reach in the Premier League."

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