Thomas Tuchel heaped praised on his Paris Saint-Germain side after they cruised into their first ever Champions League final, putting the French side on the brink of coveted European glory, while his counterpart Julian Nagelsmann conceded that RB Leipzig were simply outplayed.

“Incredible, that’s why we’re here to play in the final and to win,” Tuchel told French broadcaster RMC.

“We showed our quality, our hunger, determination. A good mix which showed we deserved the win. The team showed once again the hunger two win, to play together, to suffer. They made the most of it.”

PSG’s convincing 3-0 win over RB Leipzig at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon showed all the composure on a big European occasion that they have lacked in recent seasons.

Tuchel’s outfit have set up a meeting with either Bayern Munich or fellow French side Lyon in Sunday’s final, which could see the Qatari-owned club finally realise their owners’ ambitions.

“I felt the pressure before the game, it wasn’t easy, I have players who love the pressure of key matches I’m never relaxed,” said Tuchel.

“We know well that Bayern are the favourites, it will be difficult against Lyon, but we’ll see. It’s obviously the biggest challenge of my career.”

Proud Nagelsmann

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig coach Nagelsmann was left ruing his side’s mistakes and missed chances.

“In the end the opponent was simply better than us, we have to accept that,” Nagelsmann said in Lisbon.

Leipzig, founded in 2009, reached the last four for the first time in the Red Bull-backed club’s brief history in his first season in charge.

“We were in the semi-finals, we can be proud of that,” Nagelsmann added.

Neymar set up Marquinhos’ early header to give PSG an early led, then the Brazil attacker split the defence to create Parisian’s second goal for Angel Di Maria before half-time.

“We won’t be the first team not to stop Neymar and we won’t be the last,” Nagelsmann said.

Left-back Juan Bernat scored the French champions third against the run of play to put PSG out of sight.

“Paris played a very, very good game. We made one or two mistakes too many. In the first ten to 12 minutes we did well and had good situations,” Nagelsmann said.

“It was an unfortunate mistake for the opening goal from a set piece and it was hard to come back after the second goal, because Paris have a lot of quality.

“We had a good start at the start of the second half, but then conceded the third goal from nothing, during a period of good pressure from us.”

Having won their group, then knocked out last season’s finalists Tottenham and an experienced Atletico Madrid side in the knock-out stages, Nagelsmann failed to hide his disappointment at the missed chance to reach the final.

“The feelings of frustration will take a few days to get over,” he admitted.

“The attitude of my players was great. We showed character on the pitch, but you have to accept when the opponent is stronger.”

(With AFP inputs)