WILL MANCHESTER CITY OR CHELSEA BE HONORED AS EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS IN THE ALL-ENGLISH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL ON SATURDAY?
The city will be attempting to win the prestigious tournament for the first time.
Chelsea, the European champions in 2012, have beaten Pep Guardiola’s team twice in the league and once in the FA Cup in 2020-21.
Up to 16,500 spectators will be permitted to enter Porto’s Estadio do Dragao.
Both teams have fully fit squads from which to choose. Although City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan appears to be in pain after colliding with Fernandinho during training on Friday.
‘If you win, you are a hero; if you lose, you are almost a failure.’
“I’ve already decided how we’re going to play. And who we’ll play with, and I won’t bother them too much,” Guardiola explained.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be here. I know what I’m going to say. I’ll tell guys who are worried and nervous that it’s normal.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll have to suffer a lot in training to win the final.” It’s nice to say we had a good time, but that doesn’t always happen. You must be strong and well-prepared.”
“If you win, you are a hero,” Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne said. You almost fail if you lose. The team has worked extremely hard to get to this point. But if you don’t win, I don’t want to hear about it.
“It’s been one of the team’s and players’ main goals.” It’s a wonderful thing to be able to be there tomorrow Saturday and play on the world’s biggest stage.”
Guardiola, City’s Spanish manager, is aiming to win the Champions League for the third time. After guiding Barcelona to victories in 2009 and 2011,
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is aiming for his first Champions League victory. Last season, he led Paris St-Germain to the final, where they were defeated by Bayern Munich 1-0.
Tuchel stated, “I hope everyone wants it.”
“It’s all about hunger, and you’re always at the top of your game depending on how badly you want it?” This week, I felt like we were very focused and behaved well.
“It’s always difficult to play against teams like Manchester City, Bayern Munich, or Barcelona when Pep is on the bench.” He inspires great belief and success, and he has a strong sense of victory.
“Perhaps they are currently the strongest team in Europe, if not the entire world.” And they’ve widened the gap between us in the league. We did, however, close the gap for 90 minutes at Wembley and again in Manchester.”
The final match will be decided on a single day, with 30 minutes of extra time and, if necessary, penalties.
Each side will be allowed five spaces, with a sixth allowed on each side of the finalists to go overtime.
“Hitting the penalty shootouts in the Europa League final was good in terms of quality,” Tuchel said.
“We’ve also identified the players who should face fines in the upcoming game.” But I have no idea who is last on the field, so we need to get to know each other. But when we go to the penny store, we both go in and out.”
A video assistant referee (VAR) system will be used, with City designated as the “home team,” which means they will play in blue and white.
This years final will be broadcast in over 200 countries around the world. In about 10 minutes, the opening ceremony will take place. Before the start of Europe’s biggest football match.
Where is the final match held?
The final game was scheduled to take place at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium. Nonetheless, due to coronavirus restrictions, it was moved earlier this month to the Portuguese city of Porto.
Portugal is a green tourist destination in England. So the players and fans can go there without fear of being locked up when they return home. Turkey is on the prohibited list.
The final was held in Portugal for the second year in a row. And for last season’s competition, Lisbon is the last resort.
The Estadio do Dragao has already hosted the 2019 Nations League finals and is set to host Euro 2004.
This season, City has competed in the Champions League. In December, Pep Guardiola’s team was held scoreless by Porto in the group stages.
On their way to the finals, Chelsea also played for Porto. Nonetheless, both legs of their April quarter-finals were played in Spain at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Sevilla.
On May 17, the country was placed on the green list due to coronavirus travel restrictions between Portugal and the United Kingdom.
How many spectators will be permitted in the final?
In Lisbon, the 2020 final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain was played in secret.
This year, however, there will be approximately 16,500 attendees. One-third of the capacity of the Estadio do Dragao.
Manchester City and Chelsea will each receive approximately 6,000 tickets.
More than 800 unsold tickets have been returned by Chelsea.
There was a huge demand for the 2,800 tickets that were sold on a confidential basis.
Unsold tickets, on the other hand, were included in the rental package, which also included £ 200 in sponsored flights.
Meanwhile, Uefa sold an additional 1,700 tickets to the general public on Tuesday.
Previous all-English championships
This is the third final for all Englishmen and the second in the Champions League in three seasons.
Chelsea lost 6-5 on penalties to Manchester United in Moscow in 2008 after a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes.
Eleven years later, Liverpool defeated Tottenham 2-0 in the final, which was played in front of a crowd.
If City defeats Chelsea, they will become the sixth English club to be defeated as European champions. Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, and Aston Villa are the teams following them.
The City is the ninth English team to make the finals. After Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Leeds United, Arsenal, and Tottenham.
The last English team to win their first final was Aston Villa against Bayern Munich in 1982.
Will Sergio Aguero play?
Sergio Aguero, who has 260 goals in 389 games for Manchester City, will leave when his contract expires this summer.
Aguero scored twice in his last appearance at City Etihad Stadium. Last Sunday, the newly crowned Premier League champions defeated Everton 4-0 at home.
If he plays in the final, it will be Argentina’s ten-year farewell to the club.
Sergio Aguero expressed gratitude to everyone. (Image courtesy of Sports Adda)
Manchester City’s Aguero has 13 goals against Chelsea. However, he had not scored in the previous four games against them since the February 2019 draw.
According to City Guardiola, he is close to joining Barcelona next season.
Both team managers have fully fit squads from which to choose.
Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy have both recovered from injuries and will play.
Ilkay Gundogan, a City midfielder, also returned after being defeated by Brighton on May 18.
Also Read: Sabrina Haskett, Leila Arcieri, Angel Adoree