The Blues boss suggests all the recent talk of the Super League had a negative effect on the performance of his team.
Thomas Tuchel admits Chelsea “did not deserve to win” against Brighton after the two teams played out a draw on Tuesday.
Chelsea missed the opportunity to move to third place in the Premier League standings after a goalless stalemate at Stamford Bridge.
The hosts dominated possession and had seven shot attempts but had nothing to show for it after the clock had run out, with a long-range Kurt Zouma effort that Robert Sanchez comfortably saved the closest they were able to get to scoring.
On the plus side, the Blues recorded their 15th clean sheet in their 20th match under the German manager.
Tuchel told Sky Sports: “I was affected so I think the players were affected. We talk of nothing else but Super League before the match.
“Nobody asked about the match before. You have to accept the distraction. We tried to create an atmosphere to win the game but could not.
“We were sloppy when we did win the ball. We were not precise enough. We have to accept that we did not deserve [to win].
“We made big mistakes, looked tired, mentally tired. We did not deserve to win maybe for the first time since I arrived here.”
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