The most important football match of the European club season will take place on Saturday 29 May at the Dragão stadium in Porto. The UEFA Champions League final will feature Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. The two giants of the English Premier League could end the season with a historic milestone.
Manchester City met Christmas in eighth place in the league table and finished the tournament in first place. No one has succeeded in such a leap in the top English division since 1982. In 2021, the Mancunians not only won the Premier League, but also won the English League Cup. The upcoming Champions League final will be the club’s first ever. On the way to the trophy, the club passed Borussia Mönchengladbach and Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain.
Chelsea also had an uneven first half of the season and parted ways with head coach Frank Lampard. In his place came the former coach of PSG and Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel, who fully integrated the specialist into the expensive newcomers of last summer and brought the team to a new level. The Blues have finished in the top four in the Premier League, reached the FA Cup and Champions League finals, and Chelsea’s statistics in a face-to-face confrontation with their future rival give them hope for a trophy. In the playoffs, the team made it to Atletico Madrid, Porto and Real Madrid.
The decisive match of the 2020/21 Champions League was supposed to be held at the Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, but due to the surge in the incidence of coronavirus in Turkey, it was decided to postpone the meeting to Portugal. It was there that all the meetings of the tournament took place last year, starting with the quarter-finals stage.
Manchester City – Chelsea. Meeting history
Historically, Chelsea are the strongest team in this pair. Londoners have won 70 out of 168 competitive matches, and City have won 59. In recent years, the Citizens have been catching up with the Blues, and with the arrival of new owners and large investments, the club has become the dominant force in English football.
The Portugal meeting will be the fourth for the teams in 2021. Manchester City won at Stamford Bridge in January, but for Chelsea the last two confrontations – at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals and at Etihad in the framework of Premier League a few weeks ago.
Possible formulations
Pep Guardiola has played without a strong striker this season and is likely to stick with his original approach against Chelsea. On the eve of the final, Manchester City have a fully completed squad without any staffing problems due to injuries or disqualifications, the citizens will play for the upcoming match in an optimal combination.
Blues main goalkeeper Edouard Mendy needed a replacement during the last Premier League game against Aston Villa last week – he should be recovered by the Champions League final. N’Golo Kante, the best player of both semifinal meetings against Real Madrid, has certain health problems, but the Frenchman will be available to choose a coach for the game with Manchester City.
Manchester City: Ederson, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Alexander Zinchenko, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Kevin de Bruyne, Riyad Marez.
Chelsea: Edouard Mendy, Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ben Chilwell, Rhys James, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner.
Broadcast where to watch
The game “Manchester City” – “Chelsea” will begin on May 29 at 22:00 Moscow time, the broadcast can be seen on the federal television channel “Match TV” and on “Match! Football 1 “.
Forecast, rates, odds
The current form of “Manchester City” makes it possible to consider the team the strongest in the world at the moment – in recent months, the townspeople have crushed their rivals. Chelsea were one of the few opponents that Guardiola had problems against – on Saturday the Spanish specialist will try to prove that those results were just a misunderstanding. The Blues have been showing unstable football for several weeks and have no room for error in the game against the Citizens. Londoners have more experience in UEFA finals, but City looks to be the favorite ahead of a particular match. Bookmakers offer odds of 1.90 for a Manchester City win, 4.50 for a Chelsea triumph and 3.50 for a draw. Place your first bet on the Champions League Final for free after receiving 1000 rubles from Winline and enjoy the game!
Information about the organizer of risk-based games, bets, the number of prizes or winnings, the timing, place and procedure for receiving prizes or winnings on the Winline.ru website
.