Thomas Tuchel described himself and Chelsea as “lucky” as they secured a fourth-placed Premier League finish and Champions League qualification despite losing 2-1 at Aston Villa on the final day. The west London club scraped to the outcome they wanted after Leicester imploded late on to lose 4-2 against Tottenham at the King Power Stadium. Leicester’s failure to secure a top-four spot was described by Brendan Rodgers as a “bitter disappointment” but the manager said that made him more determined to stay to guide them higher. Liverpool finished third after beating Crystal Palace 2-0, leading Jürgen Klopp to hail their achievement in coming “from nowhere to the Champions League in five weeks”. Leicester, needing victory to take advantage of a slip from Chelsea or Liverpool, led 2-1 only to concede three times in the final 14 minutes – the goal that turned the tide being a disastrous Kasper Schmeichel own goal. “We are lucky that Tottenham finished the job for us,” Tuchel said. “We came to win and to put any doubts to the side but it was not possible. I knew maybe three or four minutes before our game was over because the game at Leicester was over a bit earlier. “We prepared for the match and the target was to win and I think that, again, we are absolutely able to win this match. It is normally so, so hard to create chances and to score against Aston Villa but we created a lot – so many deliveries. We are still a young team and we try to evolve, to learn from every game, but it has been our story throughout the season. “We have needed many clean sheets to overcome this lack of composure and precision. Today we conceded two goals from set pieces and it was hard to come back but we had enough chances to turn it around.” The biggest blot on the day for Tuchel was the injury that forced off Édouard Mendy at half-time. The goalkeeper collided with a post as he tried and failed to keep out Bertrand Traoré’s opening goal and he is a doubt for the Champions League final against Manchester City on Saturday. “Mendy fell into the frame of the net and he feels a big pain in his ribs,” Tuchel said. “We will have an update tomorrow with what’s going on. We will see if it is possible and, if it is possible, we will push to do everything so he is in goal on Saturday.” Rodgers did not hide the pain of having to settle for fifth after winning the FA Cup. “I’m bitterly disappointed,” he said. “It hurts and probably will do for a few days. But I know in a few days’ time when I look back at the season and reflect on what the players have given despite the obstacles we’ve had throughout the season – the injuries and everything else – I’ll feel pride at what they’ve achieved. “I said to the players that when we started out two years ago that we were probably a mid-table team with a fair bit of talent. Now we’re a team that can be consistently in the top parts of the table, that can challenge the elite of the division and fight of trophies. We have to take our medicine today but we’ll be ready to come back and push again.” Asked whether not competing in the Champions League might leave him open to offers from clubs in that tournament, Rodgers replied: “I absolutely love it here at Leicester City, even more so that we’ve just missed out. That motivates me even more to be here and to try to help the club reach that level.” As for the prospect of other clubs courting Leicester’s top players this summer, such as James Maddison and Wesley Fofana, Rodgers said. “That’s not something I’m thinking about now. We’ll see what the summer brings. We want to bring in players who can improve the squad. We’ll see whether there are bids for players or what not, but it’s not something we’re really thinking about.”