THOMAS TUCHEL admits Chelsea are struggling to keep up with Manchester City’s “winning machine”.
But the German boss has vowed his Blues will fight to match their “relentless” title rivals.
Tuchel’s men can cut City’s lead at the top back to eight points with a win over Liverpool today — and deliver a massive blow to Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
Yet Tuchel said: “City are relentless and they know just what it takes to produce high-point seasons over and over and over again. It’s quality all over the club, not only in the squad but also with the management and how the club is run.
“It is a winning machine. At this particular moment, the strength of Manchester City’s squad is the key advantage.
“We will never stop believing and stop pushing but we have to be realistic — and in this moment we struggle.”
Tuchel says that ”Borussia Chelsea” will go all out to stop Manchester City becoming England’s equivalent to Bayern Munich.
As two former bosses of Borussia Dortmund, both Tuchel and Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp fought against the odds to stop Bayern winning title after title in Germany.
Klopp was the last Bundesliga boss to break Bayern’s stranglehold, with back-to-back top-flight triumphs in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
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Bayern, who are currently nine points ahead at the summit, have a TENTH straight title in their sights.
Meanwhile in England, City — who went 11 points clear after yesterday’s dramatic 2-1 win at Arsenal — are threatening to run away with the Premier League with what would be their fourth crown in five years.
Tuchel and Klopp know they both desperately need to win their clash at Stamford Bridge today to cling on to City’s coat-tails.
Blues boss Tuchel said: “As long as I’m here in my ‘Borussia Chelsea’, I will do nothing else than make other teams underperform. We will even try to make Manchester City underperform. We will not stop.
“And Jurgen, I’m pretty sure he will do the same to get the best out of Liverpool — and we here will get the best out of Chelsea.
“We will not stop chasing, we will not stop believing or stop doing this. Maybe the difference to the situation right now in the Bundesliga is we have the belief.”
The last of Klopp’s two Bundesliga titles with Dortmund came a year before Pep Guardiola arrived at Bayern.
In Klopp’s five full seasons at Liverpool, he and former Chelsea chief Antonio Conte are the only managers to stop Guardiola and City winning the Premier League.
Tuchel succeeded Klopp at Signal Iduna Park and finished second behind Guardiola’s Bayern, then third to Bayern once more, before being sacked in May 2017.
The Chelsea head coach said: “Jurgen did it with Dortmund. We came close and were stopped unfortunately in the middle of the process.
“So I think both of us know how to catch favourites and we will not stop doing it. Or trying.
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“We have to face reality. It helps in life in general if you are not dreaming and if you are realistic. If you look at the year 2021, then you have to admit that City has something like, I don’t know, 20 more points than us and Liverpool.
“We are the next in that race but it’s a big gap — a big gap in points and in goals scored. I said this when I arrived, we have to close the gap as soon as possible and we will try from day one.
“Maybe it’s a longer race than only a one-season race to catch Manchester City because they will not stop improving.”
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