Did Frank Lampard’s departure and Thomas Tuchel’s arrival reverse Chelsea’s fortunes? Whether Chelsea’s confidence in defeating Manchester City in the FA Cup and Premier League in two months was the reason for this success? Is this a reason of a good plan to defeat a very consistent team whose defence has improved tremendously? These are some of the questions that Chelsea has solved in this Champions League. This team when defeated Real Madrid in SF, had an psychological edge on Manchester City and prepared themselves for the title. Pel Guardiola ended a long wait of ten years.
The two sides have locked horns 169 times – the first dating back to as early as 7th December 1907 where the teams settled for a 2-2 draw. Ever since then Chelsea has won 71, drawn 39 and lost 59 times against Manchester City.
Chelsea FC had been no strangers to the blitz of top tier football when they won the Champions League in 2011-12 season. Caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo led the club to win their first Champions League title after beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties. This year Chelsea once again seemed to have witnessed a mid-season revival under Thomas Tuchel who replaced Frank Lampard, who was dismissed after a poor run of results. Tuchel impact with the Blues was evident from his first match – a goalless draw at home against Wolverhampton Wanders, that set the record for most possession (78.9%) and passes completed (820) for the manager’s first Premier League game. Chelsea topped Group E with 4 wins and 2 draws from their 6 matches in a pool featuring Spain’s Sevilla, Krasnador from Russia and French side Rennes.
In the Round of 16, the Blues outsmarted the resolute defence and counter-attacking Athletico Madrid with a 3-0 aggregate score. Chelsea next faced Porto in the Quarter Finals, who had gotten the better of the fancied Juventus after finishing 4-4 but advancing on the away goals rule. Despite losing in the 2nd leg Chelsea sneaked past Porto 2-1 on aggregate and booked a ticket into the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2014. Tuchel’s ability to masterclass in team management was evident as the team was more purposeful in attack and seemed to have found a lost gear to finish the game with purpose. With this tactical win, Chelsea recorded only one loss in the 18 matches since the German took charge. The semifinal tie against 13-time champions Real Madrid was another example of how the 47-year-old German manager had knit an intricate defensive plan that could punish the opposition on counter attacks and the pace of the German duo of Werner and Havertz. Chelsea booked a date in the final against Manchester City with 3-1 aggregate win against the Los Blancos. The tie for the Continental title was an all-England affair. Twice before has the final of the Champions of Europe witnessed two English sides vying for the Continental title – First in 2007-08 when Manchester United edged past Chelsea in sudden death at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and the second time when 2018-19 when Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.
Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester City this year could be a sign of the domination of English clubs in Europe. While football pundits would blame Guardiola for a tactical folly for not using the defensive midfielder in the finals, everyone knows that there is no other manager who is best acquainted with the demands of a Champions League Final. Having won the title twice with Barcelona, the former FIFA World Coach of the year might have thought of changing his side that had lost 4 of the last 5 fixtures against Chelsea in the Premier League and the FA Cup. Man City has played 60 games this season utilizing the services of neither Fernandinho nor Rodri with protecting the defence. This gave added freedom to N’Golo Kante and he never let the Citizens settle down with the ball. Thinking out of the box and in an attempt to spring a possible surprise in the final, might have caught Guardiola and his men on the wrong foot. Further, the facial injury to the talismanic Kevin Kevin De Bruyne and misses from Riyad Mahrez and Foden could have added to the woes of the Man City. At the end of the regulation time, the Continental Trophy was going to London.
This Pandemic year has clearly witnessed the dominance of the English clubs. Had Villarreal not beaten Arsenal to set up a Europa League showdown with Manchester United in Gdansk, the two major European tournament finals would have been all-English affairs for the second time in three seasons. The Premier League team has the financial muscle and flexes it to reap the rewards on the big stage. With Real Madrid and Barcelona almost extending the gap between themselves and the rest in Spain this divide among the big spenders and rest has clearly tilted the Spanish equation. This year a fresh lease of air has been ushered in by Atletico Madrid. The financial arm of the Football ecosystem has been dominated by Manchester City and its spending of 2.8 billion dollars from their Abu Dhabi United Group. In Porto’s Final of the Champions League, City lost out to the only side that spent more than them in the transfer window this summer – Chelsea. With the gems of the game packed into different Premier League Clubs and the best managers, Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klop and Pep Guardioloa this looks like a sign of the dawn of a new era in world football.