Man City manager, Pep Guardiola, will have been glued to his TV last night as Chelsea completely outplayed Real Madrid to win 2-0 in the concluding match of their Champions League semi-final (winning 3-1 on aggregate over the two legs). The two English clubs will now play the final in Istanbul at the Ataturk Stadium on 29 May, and City will start as favourites with odds of 13/25 from bookmaker UNIBET.
It’s been another brilliant season for City and winning the Champions League for the first time would be a historic result for the club which has never won Europe’s most prestigious title. Manchester City tops the Premier League table with 80 points, 13 points ahead of Manchester United and therefore unstoppable at this late stage in the season. Guardiola’s team have dominated the Premier League in the past three years, having won the title twice and been runners-up to Liverpool last year. The team also lifted the EFT Carabao Cup on 25 April after beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0. The only fly in the ointment is the FA Cup where they were defeated 1-0 in the semi-final by Chelsea.
After some disappointing matches in the Champions League in past seasons, including last year’s 3-1 defeat to underdogs Lyon at the quarter-final stage, City have bounced back with an impressive run through the tournament that includes a 4-2 win on aggregate against Borussia Dortmund in early April and an impressive 4-1 win on aggregate against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final.
But “it ain’t over til it’s over” and Manchester City still has to win the final against Chelsea. Since the shock sacking of manager and club legend, Frank Lampard, in January Chelsea has prospered under the leadership of Lampard’s replacement, Thomas Tuchel. The Blues have transformed their defensive record, for instance. Average goals conceded by the team under Lampard this season were 0.93; under Tuchel’s management the average goals conceded has plummeted to 0.42.
The enhanced confidence, form and strategy of the team has delivered results – in the 20 matches played in all competitions since the beginning of February, Chelsea has won 13, drawn 5 and lost only two – a defeat to FC Porto in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final and a 5-2 thumping by West Brom in early April when the team played poorly and were down to ten men after Thiago Silva was sent off in the first half.
Bookie SBK offers odds of 23/12 that Chelsea will win the Champions League final and fans may consider these odds good value in light of the team’s renaissance this season. Chelsea last won the Champions League title back in 2012, defeating Bayern Munich 4-3 in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out, and the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, has been chasing a second title ever since. Certainly his new manager is sure that Chelsea has the ammunition to defeat City, with Tuchel saying the team will be going to the final “to win, not be a participant”. The team’s recent win 1-0 against City in the FA Cup semi-final will certainly bolster confidence in Stamford Bridge. Tuchel and his players will also be hopeful that they will beat City in their Premier League encounter this Saturday to further increase the pressure on Manchester City prior to the Champions League final.