It’s the Big One! City face Chelsea in the Champions League Battle of the Blues
*Manchester City and Chelsea are set to contest an all-English Champions League final at the Estadio do Dragao on May 29
*Can City become European champions for the first time in their history?
*Will Thomas Tuchel make up for losing last year’s final with PSG by leading Chelsea to the trophy?
Manchester City have reached the Champions League final for the first time in their history, while Pep Guardiola has done so for the first time as a manager since he won the tournament in 2011 as manager of Barcelona. Should City beat Chelsea, it would be their third trophy this season, as well as Guardiola’s 10th honour in his five years at the club.
Not for the first time, City have enjoyed an eye-catching and record-breaking campaign. Most notably, between December and March, they recorded the most consecutive wins by a top-flight English team in all competitions (21) and equalled their club record for the longest unbeaten streak (28 games).
Meanwhile, it has firmly been a season of two halves for Chelsea. At the time of Frank Lampard’s sacking in late January, they were sat ninth in the Premier League table and had won just three of their previous 10 league fixtures.
Since then, they have revived and rallied in spectacular fashion under Thomas Tuchel. The former PSG coach has lost just four of his 28 matches thus far as Chelsea manager, and also led his side to this season’s FA Cup final, which they lost 1-0 against Leicester City.
Both teams have been very impressive in the 2020/21 Champions League, and City will also enter the final unbeaten. This can be largely attributed to strong defensive performances, as reflected by the fact that the two sides have conceded just eight goals in 24 matches between them in this season’s tournament.
Manchester City vs Chelsea: Predicted line-ups
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Mendy; Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Bernardo Silva, Sterling, Foden.
Chelsea (3-4-3): Mendy; Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta; James, Jorginho, Kante, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Werner.
Date and time: Saturday May 29, 2021, 20:00
Live coverage: Kick off is at 8pm. The game will be shown live on BT Sport, with commentary on BBC Radio Manchester and the Manchester City website. The game will also be streamed for free and live from BT Sport on YouTube.
*Within hours of the final game of the Premiership, which was won by City, a mural of Blues’ record goalscorer Sergio Aguero sprang up on the gable wall of a bar in Dale Street in the Northern Quarter. Sergio still has 90 minutes to deliver one final moment of brilliance to cement his place in club history.