The boss saw his side waste numerous good opportunities and openings at Villa Park, with the Blues dominant for large swathes but devoid of a killer instinct.

Report: Villa 2 Chelsea 1

We were punished by Villa goals either side of half-time, and at that point Leicester were also winning so we were heading for fifth place. Tottenham scored three times at the King Power Stadium to turn that game around, however, and it meant our inability to build on Ben Chilwell’s goal proved immaterial…

‘I knew three or four minutes before our game was over, because the game in Leicester was over a bit earlier and it was clear we were through,’ revealed Tuchel of how he found out about our top-four finish.

‘That was the main target, but clearly we did not prepare for the occasion today, we prepared for the match. Again, we are absolutely able to win this match. It is normally hard to create chances and score against Aston Villa, but we created a lot of chances, a lot of half-chances, many, many deliveries.

‘It was the story of the season. We needed many clean sheets to overcome this lack of composure and precision. We conceded two goals from set-pieces out of nothing and made it hard to come back, but we even then we had enough chances to come back.

‘We are still a young team and we try to improve them and make them learn from every game. We need to adjust details and we need to be spot on on Saturday if we are to have a positive outcome.

‘We have no regrets,’ added Tuchel.

‘We are lucky Tottenham finished the job for us today. We came to win and put any doubt to the side, but it was not possible.

‘We are in the position and we were in the position that it was possible to end in the top four with a defeat. That was possible because of the team’s hard work and good results.’

Edouard Mendy went off at half-time after colliding with the woodwork

‘He fell on the frame of the net. He has big pain in his ribs. We need to wait until we get home and we will do some images.

‘Tomorrow we will have an update on what’s going on. We have a week to prepare, and we will see if it’s possible. If it’s possible we need to push and do everything so he is in goal on Saturday.’