Last Time Out:
Manchester City thrashed Everton 5-0; Chelsea lost 2-1 to Aston Villa.
Previous meeting:
Chelsea defeated Manchester City 2-1 on May 8 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
About the Matchup:
After years of coming close, Manchester City has finally made it to the finals of club soccer’s greatest prize. The Sky Blues are now one win away from achieving their ultimate goal, and standing in the way are nemesis, Chelsea. Over the past month, Manchester City has tasted defeat three times — and two of them came against Chelsea. The Blues stopped City in the semifinals of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win in April and then overcame a one-goal deficit to pull out a Premier League win that proved crucial to Chelsea clinching a return to the Champions League next year.
The pressure to win and secure a return to the Champions League is now off for Chelsea, which seeks its second-ever Champions League title and first since 2012. As it stands, Chelsea is one of just five English sides to ever lift the coveted trophy, and Thomas Tuchel seems to have Pep Guardiola’s number as of late. Is this finally City’s time to establish itself as a world superpower, or can Chelsea frustrate the Sky Blues one more time in 2021?
Scouting Manchester City:
When City has been focused and disciplined, they’ve looked every bit the part of a championship side. The Sky Blues certainly appeared to be on another level when they met Everton in the final match of the Premier League season, as they blitzed the Toffees despite having nothing to play for. The big question is whether they can solve the Chelsea riddle that has flummoxed them twice in the past month. In the 2020-21 campaign, Manchester City has just seven defeats, and two of them came in the past month against the Blues. For whatever reason, the Citizens don’t seem to have the patience needed to break down the Chelsea defense and settle for a one-goal victory. The other big question is what City’s mentality will be like in its first Champions League final. After finally getting past what had been their largest hurdle, will the Sky Blues be ready to come back to earth and focus themselves? Only Sergio Aguero has experienced a championship atmosphere before, making City’s mindset anyone’s guess.
Scouting Chelsea:
The key to Chelsea’s chances will be waiting for the opportunity to come and having a healthy Ngolo Kante in the lineup. Under Tuchel, Chelsea has become a counter-attacking side that focuses on shutting down the opponent more than it does, looking to put up big numbers on its own attack. For the most part, that’s worked out nicely, as Chelsea gave up a goal or less in 13 of its last 14 matches. But when Chelsea has fallen behind, the Blues aren’t really built to come from behind. Chelsea does have some quality scorers in Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner, but their mentality isn’t built to rescue them from an early deficit. Against Aston Villa, the Blues gave up the goal at the end of the first half, and they looked lost in attempting to find the equalizer, eventually conceding a penalty to the Lions and taking defeat on the final day of the Premier League season.
Regardless of how this match unfolds, having Kante in the lineup would be a big step in the right direction. Kante has missed six matches this season, and four of them ended with Chelsea on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Dan’s Score Prediction:
This is the third time that Chelsea has played in the Champions League final. In each of the previous two appearances, the Blues ended the match in a 1-1 draw. With Chelsea clearly in Manchester City’s head, this match looks like it’s going to go the way Chelsea wants it to go, with the winner likely to be decided in extra time. I’m going to back a 1-1 draw at +625 here, and I’ll tip Chelsea to lift the Champions League trophy with a goal in extra time.