Champions League Final Preview: Manchester City v Chelsea
Manchester City and Chelsea face each other tonight at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto in the Champions League Final.
Road to the Final: Manchester City
Manchester City topped their group, that included Porto, Olympiacos and Marseille. They managed to win five and draw one of their group games to advance to the last 16.
In the last 16, they faced Borussia Mönchengladbach, and comfortably progressed with two 2-0 wins home and away.
In the quarter final they would face another German side in the form of Borussia Dortmund. The first leg was played at the Etihad Stadium and City managed to win the game 2-1 with goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden. In the return leg, they also won 2-1 courtesy of goals from Riyad Mahrez and Foden.
The semi-final saw them face Paris Saint Germain, with the first leg taking place at the Parc des Princes. Manchester City won the game 2-1 with goals from De Bruyne and Mahrez and in the return leg they won 2-0 with Mahrez scoring a brace to secure a Champions League final place.
They have managed to reach the final by remaining unbeaten and winning 11 of their 12 games they have played in the competition.
Road to the Final: Chelsea
Chelsea also topped their group that included Sevilla, Krasnodar, and Rennes. Chelsea won four and drew two of their group games.
In the last 16 they faced Atlético Madrid and won 3-0 on aggregate.
In the quarter finals they faced Porto. Both legs were played at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, the home of Sevilla FC. Chelsea managed to win the first leg 2-0 with goals from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell. In the second leg, the game was 0-0, up until the 94th minute when Porto’s Mehdi Taremi scored a spectacular bicycle kick.
Despite the 1-0 loss, Chelsea progressed to the semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win. In the semi-finals they faced Real Madrid and drew 1-1 at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium with Christian Pulisic getting the Chelsea goal. Chelsea progressed to the final when they won 2-0 thanks to goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount.
Team News
İlkay Gündoğan is expected to be fit, despite an injury scare in training.
Thomas Tuchel is optimistic Edouard Mendy will be fit after he came off at half-time of the final Premier League game after colliding with the post. N’Golo Kante is expected to be fit for the final.
Form
Manchester City: WLWLW
Chelsea: LWLLW
Final Thoughts:
Manchester City are looking for their first Champions League, while their manager Pep Guardiola is looking for his third Champions League as manager.
Chelsea are looking for their second Champions League trophy after they first won it in 2012, when they beat Bayern Munich on penalties.
