Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel admits Champions League (UCL) qualification is more important than winning the FA Cup.

After losing the FA Cup trophy to Leicester City on Saturday, Chelsea and the Foxes will meet again in an English Premier League (EPL) clash early tomorrow morning.

Chelsea are fourth in the league, just one point above fifth -placed Liverpool with two rounds remaining, while Leicester are third and two points better than Tuchel’s side.

As Liverpool watched, Tuchel spoke of the importance of securing a place in next season’s major European club competition, which could also be achieved if Chelsea beat Manchester City in the UCL final on May 29.

“I’m not someone who likes to accept defeat but I want to be a respected loser and I didn’t play the match [the FA Cup final] down because of financial reasons,” he said.

“We lost in a big match, this is a big match for us, we brought down the best team, we didn’t rest anyone because we felt that this match tomorrow is more important.

“But there is but. Do we want to play in the Champions League next season? Yes, this was the target when I stepped into this club. I wanted to be very clear, the job was, ‘let’s try everything to be in the top four’.

“The job is not, ‘let’s try everything to win the FA Cup’ because the FA Cup, by that size, doesn’t get you into Champions League football next season. The top four teams get us there.

“So, yes, tomorrow is another big match. But like I said, the FA Cup final is big for us. Once you can collect the championship, you can try everything

“And me and the players – very confident of this – we didn’t think about how much money we made [by qualifying for the Champions League]. This was not in our heads.”