By Jon Essien
Two Premier League heavyweights, Manchester City and Chelsea will leave no stone unturned when both teams square off for the most coveted prize in European club football on Saturday at the Estádio do Dragão in Portugal.
Pep Guardiola will hope to end a 10-year wait in the wilderness; in search of a continental glory having enjoyed previous successes with Barcelona – leading the Camp Nou giants to an unprecedented treble in two separate seasons.
The 50-year-old is on the verge of replicating such feat with his City side, who currently headline as one of Europe’s brightest team. The Cityzens are on course for an historic treble with the Premier League and Carabao Cup already in this season’s trophy cabinet.
Manchester City have never reached the UCL final in the club’s history. The closest they came was in 2019, but were knocked out in the semis by fellow English team Tottenham in an electrifying two-legged encounter.
For Chelsea, it is their third appearance in the final and first since 2012 – when they first won the trophy and until now, the Blues have failed to make it past the round of 16.
The west London side endured a stuttering start to the campaign which led to the sacking of club legend Frank Lampard in February. His successor, Thomas Tuchel was brought in mid-way through the season and the German did hit the ground running in his first three months.
The former Paris Saint-Germain head coach led the Blues to the Champions League and FA Cup finals as well as squeezing them into top-four spot despite losing 2-1 at Villa Park on final match-day.
The 47-year-old German tactician made history at his new club as he became the first manager to reach the European Cup or Champions League final in successive seasons with different clubs after sealing a 3-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the semi-final.
However, Tuchel looks set for one final hurdle on Saturday against a strong City side. Fair enough, the odds seems to be in the German’s favour following his two recent victories over Guardiola in the FA Cup semis and Premier League this season.
