Red Devil Kevin De Bruyne has grabbed the cup with the big ears with Manchester City. In the Champions League final, the English champion lost to series-mate Chelsea. Captain De Bruyne had to leave the field after a collision with the German defender Rüdiger.
Manchester City – Chelsea in a nutshell
- Key moment: Havertz’s goal is a godsend to Chelsea, who can play his favorite game. Man City doesn’t get a ball between the posts after that deserved 0-1 and that actually says enough.
- Man of the Match: For the sympathetic N’Golo Kanté, more than enough superlatives have already been brought out. The wiry Frenchman showed Guardiola how important a defensive midfielder can be.
- Remarkable: The last eight debutants in the CL final all went into the boat, as did the last seven teams to concede the first goal. The unshakable logic of European finals.
- Striking (bis): Manchester City played two of its 13 CL matches at Porto’s Dragon Stadium this season and were unable to score a single goal. In those other eleven games, it scored 25 goals and left no stone unturned.
Havertz chops off hyper-offensive City
City coach Guardiola was in the final of the champion ball for the first time in ten years. The Spaniard couldn’t resist his urge to juggle with his line-up. This time, he put a hyper-offensive team between the lines, without a defensive midfielder. On the other side, Tuchel’s Chelsea looked a lot more conservative.
The approach of the German, who lost the final to Bayern Munich last year with PSG, initially also worked better. In an intense first fifteen minutes, Werner could easily have scored twice, but as usual he skilfully killed both chances. The striker was an example for his buddies because of his strength. Chelsea collectively prevented Man City from getting a grip on the game.
Captain De Bruyne was rarely able to break free and barely came out of the paint. When he did separate Foden one time, Rüdiger appeared out of nowhere with a great tackle. The injury and substitution of veteran Thiago Silva took the momentum somewhat out of the game. Both teams seemed to resign themselves to a 0-0 halfway.
Mount had a different idea about that, however. He plopped a dagger into the opponent’s heart and sent Havertz down the street. He faltered for a moment on Ederson, but scored easily all in all. A goal that came in ice cold to City.
Chelsea’s organization wins
The Sky Blues had to work hard, but could only keep up appearances for ten minutes. Chelsea defended meticulously and skillfully sealed every opening. Hardly any daylight came through the London back line, let alone a combination.
Just before the hour, City received another blow. Rüdiger made himself wide and let De Bruyne slam against him blindly. Our fellow countryman lay for several minutes and had to leave the field with a swollen eye. He was a spectator for a while, but then had to descend dizzy to the dressing room. Perhaps De Bruyne suffered a concussion.
In the meantime, City was not a step closer to the equalizer. Chelsea’s cleared every cross neatly and even came terribly close to 0-2. Havertz kept the overview at the end of a mighty effort, but substitute Pulisic narrowly missed the chance of the final decision.
So the nail biting continued well into the added time. With Agüero retiring in the meantime, Manchester City tried to move heaven and earth. Chelsea felt the fatigue and acidification rising and could only throw balls away. It got hot one more time when a place ball from Mahrez skimmed the bar, but the 0-1 remained on the board. The Blues were allowed to put a second Cup with the Big Ears in the trophy cabinet, City was left blank.
Watch the news late with, among other things, the Champions League final
Tuchel: “Little stone in City’s shoe”
Thomas Tuchel was of course delighted after his Chelsea victory. “This is unbelievable. I don’t know what to feel. I was so grateful to be able to return,” the German coach referred to last year’s lost final, then with Paris Saint-Germain.
“I felt it would be different this time. The players were determined to win. We wanted to be the part in City’s shoe.” After all, Tuchel defeated the City of Guardiola three times in a few weeks.
Azpilicueta: “We are writing history here”
Chelsea captain César Azpilicueta was allowed to receive the cup. “I am so satisfied, we are writing history here”, the Spaniard exulted. “We have a fantastic group, everyone works for each other. We deserve this.”
Kai Havertz, the maker of the only goal of the evening, did not immediately find the right words. “I really don’t know what to say. I had to wait for this moment for fifteen years and now the time has finally come.”
Guardiola: “Learning for the future”
City coach Guardiola tried to hide his disappointment. “It was an exceptional season for us. We are sad now, but it was an exciting game. In the second half we were fantastic and brave, but we couldn’t finish our chances. They were fast and strong.”
“Maybe we will come back one day,” it sounded hopeful. “Our ambition now is to rest and prepare for next season. It was the first time that we got into this phase, hopefully we can learn from this for the future.”
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