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Champions League final – Man City vs Chelsea: As it happened

Updates from the UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea – as it happened

Chelsea players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League [Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Reuters]
Published On 29 May 2021
  • Manchester City aiming to lift first Champions League trophy
  • Chelsea won the title in 2012, beating Bayern Munich on penalties
  • City won the Premier League and the League Cup this season
  • Chelsea finished fourth in the league; lost FA Cup final to Leicester City

Full-time

That’s it, folks. Ref has blown the final whistle on this blog too.

Thanks for joining us on an entertaining journey (not quite as long as the 11-10 epic shoot-out the other day but definitely a more entertaining normal time).

Keep reading

list of 3 itemsend of list

Our final wrap is here. Do give it a read.

Stay safe.

‘I don’t know what to feel’

Thomas Tuchel: “This is unbelievable. To share it with everybody is unbelievable. I don’t know what to feel. The players were determined to win this.”

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel [Susana Vera/Reuters]

What a difference a year makes

Thiago Silva was on the losing side in last year’s final. This year, he finally got his hands on the winners’ medal (although he wasn’t able to finish the game due to injury).

Trophy time

Chelsea lift the Champions League trophy for the first time since 2012.

Chelsea players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League [Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Reuters]

No fairytale ending for City’s Aguero who has just played his last game for the team. City did win the Premier League and the League Cup. Just not club football’s biggest prize.

Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero looks dejected after the match [Carl Recine/Reuters]

🏆 Chelsea, champions of Europe!

Winners of Champions League for the second time. One goal separated the two sides…. the one that mattered.

City’s wait for that trophy continues… they become the second Manchester side to lose a European final this week.

Final score: Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea

 

Chelsea players and staff celebrate after winning the Champions League [Carl Recine/Reuters]

Seven minutes added on

Clock ticking down

Final five minutes of normal time. Will City take it to extra-time? Will Chelsea hold on (and add more)?

City pressing. Aguero chips, Mendy catches it well. Like a Curtly Ambrose bouncer behind the stumps.

Enter the King

Sterling is off and Aguero comes on for his final appearance for Manchester City.

Will it be a fairytale ending? He’s scored 15 goals against Chelsea… including two hat-tricks.

Fourteen minutes of normal time remaining. Chelsea lead. City have a corner.

Sergio Aguero comes on as a substitute to replace Raheem Sterling [David Ramos/Reuters]

What a miss!

Chelsea break.. Kante wins the ball, Havertz slips it through to Pulisic who ends up shooting wide. Should’ve been 2-0 Chelsea.

Neither side with a shot on goal in the second half. That should’ve been the first.

Return of the fans

Just a reminder that up to 16,500 fans were allowed inside the stadium for the final.

The official attendance is 14,110 but it definitely feels (and sounds) better than the artificial crowd noise.

General view of the big screen displaying the match attendance [David Ramos/Reuters]

Substitution

De Bruyne is off injured. Jesus replaces him with an hour gone. Both substitutions in the final so far have been forced by injury.

Chelsea still lead.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne is brought off the pitch after sustaining an injury [Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Reuters]

How long until Aguero comes on?

For a team that has scored 25 goals in the Champions League this season, City’s attackers have fallen off after the initial phase of the game.

How long until we see Sergio Aguero in his farewell game for City? De Bruyne, meanwhile, is down injured.

Kevin De Bruyne reacts after Chelsea’s Kai Havertz scores their first goal [Susana Vera/Reuters]

City have the ‘talent to come back’

Arsene Wenger, once of Chelsea’s cross-town rivals Arsenal, believe City have been let down so far by their attackers but have “the talent to come back”.

Who wouldn’t count against them? We’re back underway.

‘Ice cool’

Havertz’s strike the difference between the two sides at the interval. City dominated possession, attacked Chelsea goal with Tuchel’s side also losing Thiago Silva through injury.

But the ‘ice cool’ finish means Chelsea the happier of the two sides… with a crucial 45 minutes to come.

Half-time (Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea)

Fifty-percent of normal time comes to an end.

City with 52 percent of the possession but Chelsea with 100 percent of the goals.

⚽ GOAL!

Havertz with his first-ever goal in the Champions League puts Chelsea ahead on the stroke of half-time.

Just the fifth goal City have conceded in 13 Champions League games this season.

Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea

Substitution

Thiago Silva is off. Seems to have injured his groin.

The former PSG player, who played in last year’s final too, hides his disappointment behind his shirt as he walks off.

Chelsea’s Thiago Silva is substituted off after sustaining an injury [David Ramos/Reuters]

 

Gripping start

It has been a very exciting start to the final (unlike the other final the other day, I must admit). Half an hour gone, no goals but plenty of action.

Both sides equal on goals (zero) and shots on target (one). City slightly ahead on possession but that counts for little unless they get one in the goals column.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts [Carl Recine/Reuters]

Close-knitted defence

A reminder that both sides have conceded just four goals each in this season’s Champions League… that’s four goals in 12 games each against Europe’s best.

Close for Chelsea!

Brilliant play by Chelsea. Werner hits the target… but straight at the keeper. A few seconds later, it’s Werner again. Side netting this time.

So much for that possession stat and update we posted.

City dominating (so far)

Opening 10 minutes and it’s mostly been City on the ball. Dominating possession with 61 percent of the ball.

Just the one shot on target so far but I’m not expecting that figure to last too long.

Manchester City’s Phil Foden in action with Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger [Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Reuters]

Here we go

It’s kick-off… 90 minutes (or more) coming your way. Manchester City starting from right to left in, umm, blue.

Here is who is winning the final (according to our Twitter users):

 

‘Big chance’ of penalties

We’ve already had a European final decided on penalties (earlier this week, remember?). Now, a former Chelsea hero reckons this one will go the same route.

“There is a big chance the game will go to penalties,” Petr Cech said while speaking to BT Sport.

“I hope the team is ready and confident that we will win it. Manchester City are a tough team to beat. It will be an entertaining game, even though you expect it to be a tactical game.”

Predict your winner

Reminder that there is still time to predict your winner of the Champions League final.

Only two options there, of course.

Fans trickle in

Up to 16,500 fans – at 33 percent stadium capacity – are allowed inside the stadium for the final.

Some residents aren’t happy how the English fans have been behaving outside but both sides would welcome their presence inside the stadium.

General view of Manchester city fans inside the stadium before the match [Susana Vera/Reuters]
Chelsea fans inside the stadium before the match [David Ramos/Reuters]
A Chelsea fan wearing a protective face mask inside the stadium before the match [David Ramos/Reuters]

The starting-XIs

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Mahrez, Sterling, Foden.
Chelsea: Mendy, James, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Chilwell, Mount, Havertz, Werner.

What happened in 2012?

A certain Didier Drogba reminds us:

Busy day at the airport

Planes packed with excited English fans wearing football jerseys and scarves touched down every five minutes at Porto’s airport on Saturday.

Around 40 flights from England were expected in Porto during the day, with the first fans having arrived at 8:40am (07:40 GMT).

Upon arrival, stewards directed fans from the two teams to opposite sides of the airport, where rows of buses waited to drive them to the city centre where fan zones were set up.

Manchester City fans gather in Porto ahead of the match [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters]

What’s your prediction?

Will it be Manchester City? Or will Chelsea win their second Champions League?

Vote on our Twitter page or here 👇:

What time is kick-off where you are?

Kick-off is at 9pm local time in Portugal which is 19:00 GMT.

But if you are not lucky enough to be there, here is something good UEFA has done for us:

Why are some Porto residents unhappy?

The last-minute decision to relax COVID-19 safety rules for the final has angered locals as hundreds of English fans not wearing masks packed Porto’s riverside bars on Friday night.

Some Porto residents fear a spike in infections because of the highly contagious coronavirus variant spreading in parts of England after first being identified in India.

“If they open [the stadiums] for the English, they should open [them] for all,” said Alexandre Magalhaes, walking through Porto, which was packed with fans.

One Twitter user wrote: “This is a shame for everyone who continues to comply with health rules.”

How have both sides performed this season?

City won the English Premier League as well as the League Cup, their third successive and fifth in seven seasons.

Chelsea, meanwhile, finished fourth in the league and lost the FA Cup final to Leicester.

Chelsea beat City twice this season, 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-finals and 2-1 away in the Premier League on May 8. But City defeated the Blues in London 3-1 in January.

First-time lucky for City or will Chelsea prevail again?

Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012, beating Bayern Munich on penalties. They have also won the Europa League twice since then.

Manchester City are making their first Champions League final appearance.

Both bosses are not new to this stage. City’s Spanish boss Pep Guardiola is looking to win the Champions League for a third time after steering Barcelona to triumphs in 2009 and 2011. Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is seeking his first Champions League success. Last season, the German took Paris St-Germain to the final, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich.

Read our Champions League final preview here.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies