Tuchel claims miracle Chelsea without 'our van Dijk' Kante (1st set)

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says it's a "miracle" his side will finish third in the Premier League.

The German was speaking ahead of their final game of the season.

The Blues have not enjoyed the best of campaigns, only winning the Club World Cup and failing to make an impression in the Premier League title race.

However, Tuchel believes the absence of key midfielder N'Golo Kante for much of the season has been a huge detriment to his side.

"I think he is our key, key, key player," he said to reporters.

"But key, key, key players need to be on the pitch and he has played only 40 per cent of the games, so it is maybe a miracle that we arrive in third place.

"He is our Mo Salah, he is our Van Dijk, he is our De Bruyne, he is our Neymar, he is our Kylian Mbappe.

"He is simply that player, the guy who makes the difference and if you only have him 40 per cent of the time it's a huge problem.

"Given that percentage, it's maybe a miracle how consistently we produced results and it puts everything into perspective because I saw Liverpool last season without Van Dijk and they struggled heavily.

"You see the difference. N'Golo is our key player and he needs to be on the pitch."