Thomas Tuchel not sure if Andreas Christensen will play again for Chelsea

Danish defender pulled out FA Cup final squad and Blues manager admits he might not be available for final two gmaes of season

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed that defender Andreas Christensen told him on the morning of the FA Cup final against Liverpool that he was unable to be part of the squad. AFP

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admitted on Wednesday that he is unsure whether defender Andreas Christensen will play again for the club.

The Dane pulled out of the squad for the FA Cup final defeat against Liverpool at the weekend and has been heavily linked with a move to Spanish giants Barcelona.

Chelsea have already lost the services of German defender Antonio Rudiger – who will join Barca's arch-rivals Real Madrid this summer – and it looks like Christensen will also be heading for the exit.

And, speaking ahead of Chelsea's Premier League game at home to Leicester City on Thursday, Tuchel revealed that he did not know whether the 26-year-old will be available to take on the Foxes – or for Sunday's final game of the season at Watford.

“I’m not sure yet if he’s involved tomorrow and at the weekend,” said Tuchel of Christensen, whose contract runs out this summer and can leave on a free transfer. “Andreas came in the morning of the [FA Cup final] to speak to me and tell me that he’s not ready to play the match, not to start or be on the bench.

“He had his reasons, they stay private and confidential. But it was not the first time as you can see over the last weeks that we had some of the same situations.

“That’s why he did not play so regularly in the last times. We thought we were in a good progression and development, but the conversation took place, we had to respect it and we of course respected it.

Liverpool beat Chelsea in FA Cup final: player ratings

CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy - 8. The 30-year-old had to be quick off the line to cut out danger. He was secure and showed off his shot-stopping qualities, especially in saving from Mane in the shootout. Reuters

Trevoh Chalobah - 6. The 22-year-old was tormented by Diaz but grew into the game as the defence adjusted. There were times he looked tentative and vulnerable to crosses. Azpilicueta came on for him for the second period of extra time. AP

Thiago Silva - 7. The 37-year-old was composed at the centre of defence but most of the trouble came down the flanks. He was a calming presence apart from the odd moment of wayward distribution. AFP

Antonio Rudiger - 8. The German’s side of the pitch was more secure in the first period and he handled Salah well until the Egyptian’s departure. He was robust in the tackle and showed off his pace when chasing Mane down in extra time. AP

Reece James - 7. The 22-year-old needed to be more restrained after Liverpool’s early barrage but began to range forward as the game went on. He balanced attacking and coping with Diaz well. Scored in the penalty shootout. AFP

Jorginho - 7. The Italian could not get to grips with Liverpool’s speed of passing but became more influential when Chelsea squeezed the space between midfield and defence. Scored in the shootout. PA

Mateo Kovacic - 6. The Croat was chasing shadows early on but eased into the match. By the time he was withdrawn in the 66th minute for Kante, he had helped Chelsea restore parity in the midfield. EPA

Marcos Alonso - 8. The Spaniard’s first touch let him down when he had a chance to score in the first half and he shot wide in the opening moments of the second. Minutes later he hit the bar from a free kick. Scored the first penalty in the shootout. AP

Mason Mount - 7. It took a while for the 23-year-old to get going but he sent in a cross to Pulisic from which the American should have scored. The longer the game went on, the more space he found. Alisson saved his penalty in the shootout. Reuters

Christian Pulisic - 7. The American screwed a first-half chance wide and then played in Alonso, who wasted the opportunity. He might have done better when shooting straight at Alisson in the second half and when he shot past the post. Loftus-Cheek replaced him for the final 15 minutes. Reuters

Romelu Lukaku - 6. The Belgian was starved of supply for much of the match and ran the channels powerfully without much reward. He made way for Ziyech with six minutes remaining. Reuters

SUBS: N’Golo Kante (Kovacic 66') - 7. The Frenchman gave a typically effective performance, snuffing out danger, winning the ball and finding a teammate. AP

Hakim Ziyech (Lukaku 85') - 6. The Moroccan was muscled to the floor by Konate when making a dangerous run. Scored in the shootout. AP

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chalobah 105') - 6. The Spaniard brought his experience to the game and was solid. He hit the post in the penalty shootout. Getty

Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Pulisic 105') - 7. The 26-year-old joined the game for the second half of extra time at Pulisic’s expense. He gave his team width and sent in two crosses but was surprisingly substituted for Barkley with two minutes left. PA

Ross Barkley (Loftus-Cheek 120') - 6 The 28-year-old came on with the game on the verge of penalties. He despatched his spot-kick in style. Reuters

LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson Becker - 8. The Brazilian was a spectator until he was injured making a stop from Alonso approaching the half hour. After that he made a series of good saves and rarely looked uncomfortable. His shootout save from Mount gave Liverpool the chance to win the cup. AP

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 8. The 23-year-old’s sumptuous ball to Diaz with the outside of his foot showed his class. He found Robertson at the back post but the Scot could not control the ball. His defending was sharp during Chelsea’s good spells and he made three vital interceptions. Scored in the shootout. Reuters

Ibrahima Konate - 7. The Frenchman showed his strength against Lukaku. His distribution was sometimes poor but his positional play was effective. AP

Virgil van Dijk - 7. The Dutchman was involved in a physical battle with Lukaku and did not give an inch. He tried to spark attacks with long balls from deep but went off injured at the start of extra time and was replaced by Matip. AP

Andrew Robertson - 7. The Scot got up in support of Diaz. Mount got in behind him on one occasion but his defending was generally good. He was surprised to find himself open in front of goal from an Alexander-Arnold cross and then hit the post from a Milner centre. Tsimikas replaced him with nine minutes to go. EPA

Naby Keita - 7. The Guinean pressed with gusto and used the ball cleverly. He also tried to get forward to help the attack. Milner came on for him with 16 minutes to go. AP

Jordan Henderson - 7. The captain sat deep to replace Fabinho and ensured Liverpool were on top for most of the first half. He did the hard work in midfield and still found time to get forward. Reuters

Thiago Alcantara - 7. The 31-year-old got a grip on the central areas and was sharp in the tackle. He nearly got on the end of a Daiz cross. His penalty in the shootout was scored with characteristic style. EPA

Mohamed Salah - 5. The Egyptian saw little of the ball even though Liverpool piled on early pressure before he went down with a groin injury. He was replaced by Jota in the 33rd minute. EPA

Sadio Mane - 7. The Senegalese worked tirelessly to create space for those around him. Few chances came his way but his movement was excellent. He missed a potentially shootout-winning penalty. AP

Luis Diaz - 8. The Colombian tormented the defence from the start and could have scored or set up three early goals. He shot just wide three times in the second period and made way for Firmino in the 98th minute. AFP

SUBS: Diogo Jota (Salah 33') - 7. The Portuguese flicked a chance over the bar before half time and fired wide after the break. Slammed in an powerful penalty in the shootout. AFP

James Milner (Keita 74') - 7. The 36-year-old immediately made his presence felt with a robust challenge on James and a marvellous cross to Robertson. Scored in the shootout with an unstoppable penalty. Reuters

Joel Matip (Van Dijk 90') - 7. The 30-year-old's fresh legs came in useful when he was quick to a ball in the area that Pulisic looked set to get to first. AP

Roberto Firmino (Diaz 98') - 7. The Brazilian dropped deeper in an effort to get on the ball and scored in the shootout after a stuttering run. EPA

Kosta Tsimikas (Robertson 111') - 8. The Greek was calm and impressive at both ends of the pitch. His penalty won the shootout and the cup for Liverpool. Reuters

“It was very short notice now before the cup final, and not only this match, other matches in the other weeks. There’s no chance I have any prediction for tomorrow or the weekend.”

Repeating what he said after Rudiger's decision not to sign a new contract, Tuchel insisted he will not take Christensen’s situation “personally”.

“We had to accept it and we will accept it,” said the German, whose team are third in the table and have already secured a top-four finish this season. “I try the best I cannot to take things personally, and I still believe Andreas wanted to play these matches, I still believe he could in terms of potential and ability.

“And he struggled over the last weeks, as you can see, when he was not in the squad or not playing although he was physically available.

“It was not completely out of the blue sky. We thought we had prepared him the best way possible with a very impressive game at Leeds. He is a key player.”

Timo Werner, Mateo Kovacic and Callum Hudson-Odoi will all miss the Leicester game, with Tuchel potentially rotating resources after Saturday’s punishing extra-time cup final. Kai Havertz faces a late fitness test on his hamstring problem.

Leeds 0 Chelsea 3: player ratings

LEEDS UNITED RATINGS: Illian Meslier - 5, Made a superb save to deny Christian Pulisic, even if the strike would have been offside, but there was nothing he could do to stop either of Chelsea’s three goals. Hit a couple of wayward passes. PA

Raphinha - 5, Starting further back than he would have liked, the Brazilian came close to finding Rodrigo with a ball through. Played some poor passes that conceded possession cheaply, then tried to go it alone when a pass to Rodrigo could have been the better option. AFP

Robin Koch - 5, Almost got Leeds into trouble when taking the ball away from Meslier with a nervy clearance, but blocked Romelu Lukaku’s shot soon after. Made a good header to stop Marcos Alonso’s cross from causing danger. Couldn’t find the target with a header late on. AFP

Diego Llorente - 3, Cleared Mason Mount’s attempt in a potentially precarious moment, but couldn’t find the target with an awkward shot at the other end. Conceded possession cheaply in the build-up to Chelsea’s third. AP

Liam Cooper - 5, Did well to block off Lukaku when it looked like the striker might latch on to Alonso’s pass, but was turned by the Belgian so easily later in the game. PA

Pascal Struijk - 5, Often struggled when he was called into action by Reece James, though he did do well to head away Mount’s cross intended for Lukaku. Was sat down by the Belgian in the build-up to the third. AFP

Daniel James - 2, Tried to do too much when he had the ball in the box early on and. In the 24th minute, he was sent off for an overzealous challenge on Mateo Kovacic. PA

Lewis Bate - 4, Making his first Premier League start against his former club, he struggled to leave any mark on the game. Worked hard right up until he was brought off, but was nudged off the ball by Trevoh Chalobah with relative ease when trying to break through. Getty

Kalvin Phillips - 5, Struggled to keep up with Chelsea’s play and was booked for a poor challenge on Pulisic. Some of his passing was also off. EPA

Jack Harrison - 5, Picked up an early knock and was forced off before half time. Put in plenty of work while he was on the pitch but struggled to make an attacking impact. Getty

Rodrigo - 3, Was unable to trouble Chelsea’s defence. Played some sloppy passes that gave the ball away in dangerous areas and also lost the ball on the edge of his own box. EPA

SUBS: Junior Firpo (Harrison, 37’) - 6, Showed plenty of heart and challenged for the ball well. Also delivered a good cross Raphinha wasn’t able to score from. EPA

Mateusz Klich (Bate, 59’) - 5, Moved the ball well and showed composure in the middle, but his weak shot was harmless. Reuters

Joe Gelhardt (Raphinha, 78’) – N/R, Didn’t get much service but worked hard and came up with some intelligent play. AFP

CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy - 6, Came out well to stop Raphinha’s pass finding Rodrigo but had very little to do. Getty

Trevoh Chalobah - 7, Looked comfortable throughout the first half as he wasn’t stretched at all. Sent a shot harmlessly wide with the last touch of the half. Did well to stop Bate when it looked like he might force a way through. EPA

Andreas Christensen - 7, Was confident but Leeds offered so little in the first half that he never really had to stretch himself. Did well to halt Raphinha’s path when the Brazilian tried to sprint forward. Action Images

Antonio Rudiger – 7, Moved the ball well. Also looked confident whenever required to do some defending. PA

Reece James - 8, Intelligently set up Mount for the opener and continued to look dominant whether attacking or defending. Delivered a great cross to create a chance for Lukaku. AFP

Jorginho - 7, Moved the ball well in the middle of the pitch but looped the ball tamely into Meslier’s arms when the opportunity came to cause problems. Provided the pass to Mount that led to his assist for Pulisic. Action Images

Mateo Kovacic - 6, Often moved the ball forward, whether through runs or progressive passes, but was unfortunate to be forced off injured following the challenge from James. Getty

Marcos Alonso - 6, His poor pass wasted a good opening, but the Spaniard defended well when it looked like Koch might break forward. Looked comfortable defensively and got involved in some nice moves in the second half. Getty

Mason Mount - 9, Provided a clinical first-time finish to give Chelsea an early lead. While he got too much on his pass attempting to find Lukaku moments later, the Englishman continued to dictate plenty of the game’s most threatening attacks. Also provided the assist for Pulisic with a lovely flick. Getty

Christian Pulisic - 8, Looked lively in the first half. Made no mistake when an opportunity came his way after the break, cleanly placing his shot into the bottom corner. Was unable to replicate that shortly before the hour mark. EPA

Romelu Lukaku - 8, Frustrated early in front of goal, he couldn’t stretch quite enough to reach Mount’s pass, beat Meslier with a lovely finish but was caught marginally offside, then saw headers go agonisingly wide and over. However, the Belgian looked confident and held the ball up brilliantly and eventually rounded off with a well-deserved goal. Getty

SUBS: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Kovacic, 30’) - 7, Drove forward well and was dominant in the air. Hit a disappointing shot after some nice link-up play, but then played the ball forward as Lukaku got his goal. Getty

Cesar Azpilicueta (James, 78’) – N/R, Largely stuck to the basics and put in a solid display to help Chelsea win comfortably. Action Images

Hakim Ziyech (Pulisic, 78’) – N/R, Selflessly set up Lukaku as the Belgian got his goal, then curled an effort of his own marginally wide. Getty