Liverpool enjoys huge sympathy, we know we are the bad guys.’ Says Tuchel

German manager Thomas Tuchel has said that Chelsea will be portrayed as the “bad guys” in this afternoon’s FA Cup final because their opponents Liverpool have the sympathy of the whole country.

After the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, last week claimed that the nation wants Liverpool rather than City to win the Premier League, Tuchel said he also believed that Liverpool benefited from a special reverence in English football, reinforced by their manager Jürgen Klopp’s skill at depicting his team as underdogs.

Tuchel said: “I can understand why [Pep] has that feeling. In general, I would say it is hard to really argue with it. There is a huge sympathy for Liverpool in the country. They work hard for it and [I mean] no offence.

“If you fight against it, like Pep [has] for many, many years, I can understand that it feels like this. It is also because of Jürgen [Klopp], but in general [it is because of] what Liverpool stands for and how they run the business, and how the fans push their team. You have the feeling it’s purely about football and this is like a huge history in this club and there is a huge sympathy for it.”

Of Klopp, Tuchel added: “You know ‘Kloppo’ is the master of being the underdog. He can talk you into being the underdog against Villarreal and against Benfica, and it’s a miracle, miracle how they even draw against them! That’s also from where the sympathy comes.

 “There’s nothing to be jealous of from my side. Kloppo is a fantastic guy, funny guy, one of very, very best coaches in the world and that’s what he does. When he trained [Borussia] Dortmund, the whole country loved Dortmund. Now he trains Liverpool and you have the feeling the whole country loves Liverpool. It’s big, big, big credit to him and this is what you deal with when you play against him.

“So if we are the bad guys, no problem. We take that role, we don’t want to have the sympathy of the country , we want the trophy.”