“I have to be honest” – Rudiger opens up on ‘only negative thing’ about Chelsea’s loss to Liverpool in Carabao Cup final

Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger said his team missing chances as the only negative from their EFL Cup final loss to Liverpool.

The Blues played out a goalless 120 minutes against Liverpool despite arguably creating the better chances. Mason Mount came close to scoring multiple times while the likes of Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku came close as well. The latter, along with Kai Havertz, also each had a goal ruled off due to offside after VAR checks.

The ensuing penalty shootout included a total of 22 kicks with Kepa Arrizabalaga’s missed kick costing Chelsea. The Blues will now be focussed on the Champions League along with the FA Cup, and are currently 10 points adrift of Liverpool in third in the Premier League with a game in hand.

Antonio Rudiger was of the opinion that his team did well overall apart from not being clinical enough in front of goal.

Rudiger said the following after the match:

I have to be honest, we had so many good chances. I feel like this is a repeat of the whole season because we always create good chances. I think this is the only negative thing about this game. We showed commitment, we fought until the last minute but we just couldn't get that bit of luck to get the goal we needed.

Chelsea under risk of finishing season trophyless?

With the EFL Cup loss, European Champions Chelsea find themselves facing the prospect of finishing the season trophyless. They were in the EPL title hunt until around a month ago but it has since become a two-horse race between Manchester City and Liverpool. Chelsea are still comfortably placed to finish 3rd and are alive in both the Champions League and the FA Cup.

The Blues will face Luton Town in the 5th round of the FA Cup and might be forced to consider it as the most plausible route to a trophy this season. The UCL has multiple big teams with the likes of PSG, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Manchester City being some of the favorites to win it.

While Chelsea have arguably faced issues due to their striking situation with Romelu Lukaku’s indifferent form, they have a lot of quality and depth and can easily pull off a few upsets. Rudiger claimed that his side was obviously disappointed but promised to refocus:

Today we can be angry but tomorrow we will refocus. We knew from the beginning that this would be a difficult challenge and it would be an open game. It could go either way, but I think we had the clearer chances and at the end of the day, this is also their luck. It was an intensive game and an open game. When it gets to a penalty shoot-out, anything can happen.

Thomas Tuchel knows that he has a few issues to solve with respect to Chelsea’s attack. However, the German manager will be pleased with his team’s efforts against Liverpool despite the end result.