Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Chelsea stars prepare for Champions League decider at Aston Villa - in pictures


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Coach Thomas Tuchel will be concentrating fully on Chelsea's performance at Aston Villa on Sunday rather than worrying about how Champions League rivals Liverpool and Leicester are performing.

"For a long period of the game I want to be in a bubble," said Tuchel ahead of the final Premier League games of the season.

"If it’s near the end and we have results that have an influence on the amount of risk we need to take, because we are not leading or are not comfortable leading, then we need to know. I prefer not to know, but if it’s necessary to adapt our risk-management during the game, I think this is quite normal."

Chelsea will qualify for next season's Champions League with a win at Villa, and then face Manchester City in this season's final in Porto on Saturday, May 29.

Tuchel oversaw training with Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell and the rest of the Blues squad prior to their trip to the Midlands, and is hoping for a repeat performance after the midweek victory over Leicester.

"First of all we approach the game like the game against Leicester, it’s in our hands and we can decide things with a win. But in a football match there can be a lot of twists and turns so we need to be ready for anything, on our pitches and the others."

When asked if securing Champions League qualification via the league would remove some pressure from the final, Tuchel replied: "For sure, for sure. We don't need to talk around it, for sure it takes some pressure off.

"This final, we will play 100 per cent no matter what to win the cup. This is it. The side effect (qualification for next season) of course is a crucial one.

"We've put so much hard work, so much quality and a very consistent amount of results into the last few months, that we want to finish the job. Three teams have a chance to catch two places, and so the race is on."

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