Thomas Tuchel demands more as Chelsea ease to Carabao Cup final by beating Spurs

Tuchel’s men did half the job in last week’s first leg at Stamford Bridge when they won 2-0 and Antonio Rudiger’s first-half goal in north London settled matters, setting up a Wembley date against either Liverpool or Arsenal next month.

They will get a chance to claim a sixth League Cup and give Tuchel the opportunity of winning a third trophy in just over 14 months in the job.

Spurs were well beaten over the course of the two games, but it could have been different had technology not ruled against them on three occasions in the second leg.

Referee Andre Marriner twice awarded penalties that were overturned while Harry Kane had a goal ruled out for offside as they missed out on a second successive appearance in the final.

The damage was done in last week’s first leg last week, but a demanding Tuchel insisted he still wanted more from his players.

"We have to meet the standards. It is why we work for Chelsea and play for Chelsea. Nothing else matters," he declared.

"It is not about just getting a result; we can play much better. We can close spaces much better, be better in defence, individually, control the match better and make fewer mistakes. In any aspect we can do better and we must do better.

""We started well, created big chances and were in the lead. But we played with fire; we allowed chances from sloppy mistakes and almost gave a penalty away because of overconfidence.

"The same happened in the second half, in the last 20, 25 minutes, a mixture of lack of focus, overconfidence. We needed luck to not give away another penalty, to have an offside VAR decision. We need to play better if we're going to really deserve results like this."

Spurs manager Antonio Conte had no complaints about Chelsea’s overall success but felt his side deserved more on the night.

He told Sky Sports: "I think that at the end of the two games Chelsea deserved to reach the final, and we have to be honest about this.

"In the second half we created chances to score and in the second leg we deserved a result much better than to lose 1-0. At the moment we are talking about two different teams at different levels in every aspect.”

Asked about how long it might take to close the gap between the sides, Conte said: “I am talking too much. I have to talk with the media and to repeat always the same topic and situation. Honestly, I am a bit bored and a bit annoyed.”