How can Chelsea beat such a dominant team like Man City in the final?
Chelsea take on Man City in the Champions League final on Saturday, May 29th. It will be the second all Premier League final in three seasons, following Liverpool vs Tottenham in the 2019 competition.
Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea and Pep Guardiola’s City have already met three times in the 2020/21 season, twice in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup semi-final. Chelsea have a 2-1 advantage over City this season and the Blues have beaten the Citizens twice in the last two months in the Premier League and the FA Cup semi-final. As a result, Tuchel will be confident that the right tactics and approach can help Chelsea lift their second Champions League title.
Tuchel’s Tactics
A cornerstone of Tuchel’s success with Chelsea has been their defensive setup. Since the German manager took over in late January, Chelsea have played 26 matches in all competitions and kept 18 clean sheets.
In the Champions League, the Blues have been hard to beat. Tuchel has been in charge for the entirety of the knockout stages, and they have conceded just two goals in six matches. Nobody could have predicted when Tuschel took over from club legend Frank Lampard back in January that the team would flourish with such a strong presence in the European tournament but also climbing back up the table in their domestic league.
A highlight of Chelsea’s defensive solidity was seen in the 2-0 home win over Real Madrid in the second leg of the semi-finals. Chelsea were happy to concede 68% possession against Los Blancos, and restricted them to just seven shots in the match. Chelsea then attacked with pace and scored two goals either side of half-time. Timo Werner finished off a fast-flowing move for the first, while N’Golo Kante won the ball back high up the pitch and helped create the second, which Mason Mount finished from close range.
In the final, Man City will likely see more of the ball than Chelsea. Guardiola’s side have averaged 60% possession in the Premier League this season, so they will provide a similar test to Real Madrid. However, this will suit Chelsea, who are likely to soak up the pressure and work chances through speed on the counter-attack.
Stopping City’s Key Players
City have an abundance of quality in their squad. Rotating top players has already helped them to win the Premier League and the EFL Cup this season. If Chelsea want to win the Champions League, they will have to stifle the creativity of Kevin De Bruyne and contain the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus. Between them, these players have a combined 46 goals and 29 assists in all competitions, it’s this array of talent which Pep can Paul from that makes his team the clear favourites across soccer betting lines by operators who recognise that Guardiola has been slowly building a European powerhouse in the past few years in Manchester.
In particular, De Bruyne will be the player to stop. The Belgian playmaker was subbed off on 46 minutes in the 1-0 semi-final loss to Chelsea and missed the 2-1 Premier League loss to the Blues last weekend. De Bruyne is likely to feature for City in the Champions League final and he has assisted four and scored three in this year’s competition.
In City’s 3-1 win over Chelsea earlier in the season, De Bruyne, Foden and Sterling tore through the Blue’s defence as a fluid front three. Chelsea are much improved since then, and Tuchel’s shift to a 3-4-2-1 formation will focus on remaining compact without the ball, but pressing these key players high up the pitch to win the ball back in dangerous areas.
