The German saw his efforts thwarted once again by the system, but was still pleased after the Blues leapfrogged themselves into third in the table
Timo Werner says that the two VAR decisions to disallow his efforts in the first half are a “mirror of the whole season” for him on a personal level, as Chelsea gained revenge for their FA Cup final defeat against Leicester City.
With fans welcomed back to Stamford Bridge, the Blues held off a late Foxes fightback to overhaul them in the race for the Premier League top four and further bolster their Champions League credentials for next season, ahead of their final clash with Manchester City.
Yet they could have been long out of sight had Werner not seen two early finishes chalked off, and the forward admitted that he has often felt personally thwarted by the VAR system this term.
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What has been said?
“The first half was a bit like a mirror of the whole season for me,” the Germany international acknowledged to Match of the Day. “Always close, then at the end not really.
“[But] when you are young and in the final of the Champions League it’s no problem. It’s good that we have fans back in the stadium. We missed it so much.
“That’s why you play football because you want a full stadium. There was only 8,000 here today but it was so loud. It made it a lot of fun to play today and you saw that on the pitch.”
“It was really hard [to bounce back] after the final. You want to win every final. The game was so big that we couldn’t have so much things in our head about the final because we had to concentrate on this game.
“It was much more important because when you don’t play Champions League next season, it means a lot.”
The bigger picture
Chelsea’s victory at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday means that they have now leapfrogged Leicester to take third in the top-flight, putting them in the proverbial driving seat to seal Champions League football next term over the Foxes and Liverpool.
The Reds still have to play Burnley this week before Sunday’s finale, when all three will go down to the wire for the last two spots.
Tuchel will know that destiny sits firmly in his side’s own hands, though unlike his other rivals, his side will have a second bite of the cherry if they miss out thanks to the Champions League final with City.
However, the Blues would surely not wish to leave their European future up to the last-chance saloon of their game in Porto with Pep Guardiola’s heavily-fancied favourites, making their final game against Aston Villa a must-win encounter.
Further reading
- Chelsea sweat on Kante after early exit
- How many PL clubs can make CL?
- Kane tells Spurs he wants summer exit
