Thomas Tuchel ‘grateful’ for another chance of Wembley glory with Chelsea

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel expressed his gratitude to have another cup final to look forward to after goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount downed Crystal Palace in the last four of the FA Cup at Wembley.

The Blues saw the defence of their Champions League title end in midweek after they lost 5-4 to Real Madrid on aggregate and with Manchester City and Liverpool out in front in the Premier League, it left this competition as the club’s only realistic opportunity to add more silverware to the cabinet.

With Roman Abramovich also in the process of selling Chelsea and therefore his trophy-laden era coming to an end, victory on their 27th appearance at the new Wembley was even more significant.

Substitute Loftus-Cheek broke the deadlock in the 65th minute before Mount wrapped up the victory.

It sets up another meeting with Liverpool, who beat them in the Carabao Cup Final in February, on May 14, but Tuchel is not interested in thwarting the Reds’ quadruple bid.

“I don’t care about their other titles,” the German insisted. “We want to turn things around (against them) but it will not get us the Carabao Cup title back.

“We are here, we were here last season in the FA Cup Final in a game that means an unbelievable lot for us because it is the FA Cup, the most prestigious and most traditional cup in the world maybe and played at Wembley, so there are not a lot of bigger games to be a part of.

“That is why we are grateful and we will be well prepared because we play against one of the strongest teams in the world.”

Chelsea will hope it can be third time lucky in the FA Cup after Tuchel’s side lost to Leicester last May at Wembley while his predecessor Frank Lampard suffered defeat to Arsenal in the 2020 final.

The Blues