As the curtain prepares to fall on a rollercoaster of a season for Chelsea, there is one last game that awaits. The kind of game that becomes the highlight of a player’s career, for the right or wrong reasons. The kind of game that becomes a precious memory or a painful reminder for supporters. The kind of game that comes once or twice in a decade for most clubs. Arguably the biggest game of football played all year: the UEFA Champions League final.
Here are five things to look for in the Champions League finale against Manchester City:
1. Fairytales and redemption
Man City heads to Porto with the belief that Sunday will be the greatest night in the club’s history, a joyful culmination of a 13-year journey. The Citizens’ manager, Pep Guardiola, is by no means a stranger to the Champions League final. However, the two-time winner has been on a desperate hunt for the elusive trophy for nearly a decade. From Munich to Manchester, the Spaniard has managed the best players and spent more than £1 billion in order to build the best teams. While he’s enjoyed plenty of domestic success, European glory has been hard to come by, which represents a chink in his golden armour.
For Guardiola, Sheik Mansour and the entirety of Man City, the Champions League has become an obsession. One which can finally be bought—I mean, fulfilled—come Sunday. But the world has seen this story before, in another decade, in another shade of blue. It doesn’t necessarily have a fairytale ending just yet. Roman Abramovich and Chelsea know far too well that getting to the Champions League final doesn’t always end with champagne and glory. For that matter, so do Thomas Tuchel and Thiago Silva, with the latter experiencing heartbreak in his final game for Paris Saint-Germain in last year’s final. No perfect ending, no destiny, but a journey similar to the one Sergio Aguero’s been on.
This Chelsea squad has had more than its fair share of heartbreak, with multiple cup final defeats in the last two years. Tuchel and his players know that the biggest moments in life don’t always go to plan, but that’s no reason to give up. From pain comes reflection, from reflection comes improvement and from improvement comes vindication. City might be the odds-on favourite to win on Saturday, but between a fairytale and a tale of redemption, a betting man would put his money on the latter.
2. Renewed winners or new-age bottlers?
Every club has a culture that binds everyone connected to it. Be it Barcelona’s tiki-taka, Real Madrid’s Galacticos or Wolves’ Portuguese heritage; club culture is the very core of a team’s existence. For Abramovich’s Chelsea, that culture has always been winning trophies.
Every player signing and every manager sacking has always been viewed as parts of the grand plan to win silverware. The moment an individual shows the slightest signs of deviating from it, they’re shown the exit door—be it a talented youngster or decorated legend.So, for a club that’s come into global relevance through this ruthless style, it is quite eerie for it to have collected more silver medals than gold since 2012. Perhaps the fact that five of those losses have come in the last five years should be a greater cause for concern.
Now, of course, there will be those that waive this off by saying “Super Cups don’t count” or “is the FA Cup even relevant anymore?” but the bottom line is each cup represents silverware. Some might be more elusive than others, but they go into the trophy cabinet all the same. To let these defeats slide by touting ‘progress’ is against the very foundation of the club. A team can have a golden generation of players, all the talent in the world, but talent doesn’t automatically convert into big game performances and trophies. For every Bayern Munich in the world, there is a Tottenham Hotspur.
In the current crop of Chelsea stars, how many players know what it takes to win a domestic league or the Champions League? Only Mateo Kovacic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Marcos Alonso—the latter three of whom are bound to leave Chelsea in the somewhat near future. Their departures will leave the winning mentality that was once forged by Abramovich and Jose Mourinho—passed down the years by Didier Drogba, John Terry, Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Eden Hazard—at the door.
Once that mentality is lost, it can take decades to regain it. Just look at Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. Saturday represents one of the last chances for the club to pass this mentality down to a new generation, to renew its status as serial winners. This is the chance to either be the men for the big occasion or the nearly men under the brightest lights.
3. Chelsea’s midfield pivot
Tuchel’s switch to the 3-4-3 has worked wonders for this Chelsea team since January, much like it did for Antonio Conte. While the creativity up front has reduced due to this change, the defensive grit that has eluded Chelsea for almost three years has returned. While the defence can rightly take much of the plaudits for the defensive solidarity, a fair share of the praise must also go to the midfield pivot; the duo that works tirelessly in front of them. In a system that relies heavily on pressing and possession, the most vulnerable moments crop up during transitions.
To avoid any dangerous turnovers, Tuchel’s pivot has to be continually aware of everyone’s position to press and pass the danger away. It puts a huge strain on the duo tasked with these responsibilities, as it is quite easy to be overrun by the standard three-man midfield. Thankfully for the German, N’Golo Kante, Kovacic and Jorginho have been more than up to the task during his tenure. Be it outclassing a Galactico midfield or weathering the storm of Guardiola’s tiki-taka, the trio has performed sublimely in most outings. Therefore, Tuchel’s recent midfield conundrum for the wrong reasons has been quite a shock.
Jorginho, who’s been a player reborn under Tuchel, has put in a string of abysmal performances in the last few games, which nearly cost the club a top four finish. The Italian has no doubt come leaps and bounds since Tuchel took over, but there are only so many instances that can be overlooked as ‘freak errors.’ Can Tuchel ignore Jorginho’s recent form to select him based on his half-season improvement?
Kovacic has been another who, until recently, was putting in some stellar performances. With his high-octane style, the Croatian would go from effectively protecting the defence to running dangerously at the opposition in seconds. He brought energy and technique to the midfield that undoubtedly helped in transition and build-up. However, since his rushed return from injury against Leicester City, the Croatian has been brilliant and disastrous in equal parts. Inability to beat presses and costly giveaways in the last two games will weigh heavily on his manager’s mind as Tuchel decides on his midfield pairing for the season finale.
That brings us to the man who would normally be the first name on the team sheet: Kante. After three years of injuries and tactical shake-ups, Tuchel has unleashed the best version of Kante, who is the best defensive midfielder in the world. There is no doubt that he should be starting the final, but will he be fit? Can Tuchel take the risk Diego Simeone took in 2014 by rushing an unfit Diego Costa into the starting XI, only for the player to bow out prematurely? It cost the Argentine a precious substitute, which can well be the deciding factor in a final.
Tuchel has the worst selection headache for Saturday. Between an out-of-form Italian, an error-prone Croatian and an unfit Frenchman, who will finally make his midfield pivot?
4. The right side of the defence
The hallmark of a good defensive system is that when it comes to the big games, everyone knows who the starters will be. There is no room for doubt or speculation, as the consistency of the defence is what makes it so predictably great. Man City will have that nailed down on Saturday. Tuchel and Chelsea though, are about 60 percent (or 3/5) of the way there.
The left and central members of the back line are rather definite: Ben Chilwell (LWB), Antonio Rudiger (LCB) and Silva (CB) are guaranteed starters. When it comes to the right side of the defence though, a feeling of indecisiveness seeps in. Reece James, Andreas Christensen and Azpilicueta are all fit, so Tuchel has a decision on his hands.
Recently, Tuchel made the tactical switch to play James as the right centerback, pushing Azpilicueta to the wings. The trend started for the Leicester games, partly due to Christensen’s injury, but mostly to mark out Jamie Vardy. Vardy—as a speedy customer—was bound to exploit to space between Silva and Azpilicueta, with neither as quick as they used to be. It then made perfect sense to have the fitter James tasked to deal with him, and the ploy largely worked. The flip side of having a youngster like James in that position is that even the slightest lapses in concentration can have grave implications. James found that the hard way when his giveaway led to Leicester City’s winner in the FA Cup final.
While it seemed to be a one-team strategy, the fact that Tuchel deployed the same combination against Villa hints that Tuchel does not view Azpilicueta as a right centerback for now. If that is the case, would the return of Christensen be on the cards? The Dane is natural at the position after all, unlike James and Azpilicueta, and Chelsea has conceded a lot more goals without Christensen in the squad than with him. This would bring up further questions: Is the Dane truly fit to play? Does captain Azpilicueta miss out as James is a better wingback? These are questions Tuchel needs to figure out soon if the Blues stand a chance of weathering Man City’s offensive storm.
5. Will a real striker step up?
Currently, Guardiola’s City and Tuchel’s Chelsea have one glaring similarity: the lack of a true striker taking the goal-scoring responsibility.
For the Citizens, the reasons are as systematic as they are as circumstantial. Guardiola switched to a false nine system midseason due to Aguero’s injuries and Gabriel Jesus’ misfiring. The change might’ve coincided with Ilkay Gundogan’s purple patch, but it clearly worked and brought consistency to the team. From there on, while Jesus has chipped in the odd goal, the reliance has been on the midfielders to create and take the chances. With Gundogan as their top league scorer with 13 goals and Riyad Mahrez as their top European scorer with four goals, it’s quite clear that Man City’s primary goal scorers have simply not been good enough.
For Chelsea, the striker misgivings compound. For a club inside the top four and in the final of two major cup competitions, to record Jorginho as the top league scorer with seven penalties is nothing short of shameful. A large part of these struggles can be attributed to the system. Tuchel sacrificed his team’s creative players when he switched to the 3-4-3, putting the onus wingbacks to effectively contribute in chance creation and conversion along with the front three.
While the wingbacks have been pulling their weight, the attackers have not held their end of the bargain. The likes of Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi have not nearly created or scored enough, while nothing seems to go Timo Werner’s way. It’s quite telling that the most threatening player in Chelsea’s recent matches has been Ben Chilwell, as it puts further pressure on the defence to help the team stay in the game. Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud, two true strikers with the best goal-to-minutes ratio, have been left out in the cold due to being misfits in Tuchel’s fluid pressing system. While their exclusions can be justified with most of the results, should the club come back home with big fat xG and no trophy to show for it, will it be worth it?
When Chelsea or City is trailing in the 89′, on the biggest night of the season, will either have a true striker to trust with the final goal-scoring opportunity?
What are some of the things you’ll be looking for? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!