Saturday 29th May 2021
Dream pass, coolness, tears
Tuchel coaches Chelsea to win the Champions League
Thomas Tuchel disenchants Pep Guardiola for his first handlebar pot: The heavily tuned Chelsea FC wins the Champions League final against Manchester City. The German national player Kai Havertz scored the decisive goal. City captain De Bruyne has to leave the field injured in tears.
Kai Havertz led the tactical giant Thomas Tuchel to the goal of all dreams in the dragon cave of Porto. In the exciting English final, the most expensive German footballer scored Chelsea FC with his first Champions League goal for a 1-0 (1-0) triumph over the madness of Manchester City and Pep Guardiola, who did it despite hundreds of millions of euros in investments failed to take the throne for the fifth city year.
İlkay Gündoğan also went away empty-handed – Tuchel and Havertz, on the other hand, celebrated a spectacular underdog victory at the side of Timo Werner and Antonio Rüdiger, the second of the Blues after the terrible knockout blow for Bayern Munich in the 2012 final. The 80 million man Havertz played around in the 43rd minute City goalkeeper Ederson and pushed in casually. Tuchel, who lost the final with Paris St. Germain last year, almost freaked out with joy.
For the 47-year-old, the giant pot handle is the Holy Grail. “To be in the final twice in a row is sensational,” he enthused before kick-off. Six years ago he had reenacted games of FC Barcelona with Guardiola on a legendary evening in a fine Munich wine bar with salt and pepper shakers – now he challenged the Catalans on the biggest stage. In the current season he had already checkedmate his opponent twice.
Werner leaves opportunities to lie
Guardiola, twice winners of the premier class with Barca, threw almost all of the offensive players at Tuchel’s feet that he had to offer. His line-up was breathtaking: with Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling in the forefront, the ingenious opener Kevin De Bruyne behind, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva on the wings and the recently dangerous metronome Gündoğan in the center. A little went under that ManCity with its billion-dollar eleven shouldn’t have started at all. UEFA had banned the Citizens for two years for serious violations of financial fair play, but the International Court of Justice (CAS) overturned this.
After an opening show that took some getting used to, Tuchel opposed the English champions with a strong midfield capable of running and fighting, which has its strengths in switching. Rüdiger, who was strong as a bear, was waiting in the back, Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta, who had been substituted after 40 minutes: The choking football typical of Guardiola should not unfold.
City had more (often very fruitless) possession of the ball – but one got the first big chances, who recently suffered heavily from a jam: Werner stepped over the ball in the best position after preparatory work by the strikingly strong Havertz (10th), it would have been a dream start for Chelsea . Three minutes later, the international striker Ederson pushed the ball into his arms from seven meters. Havertz, who initially suffered from Corona this season and then plagued by injuries, occasionally rotated to the top. Tuchel whipped up the 6000 Chelsea fans among the 14,110 spectators: the game remained electrifying, of the highest class.
Havertz stays cool in front of Ederson
If City made it to the baseline, a defender in dark blue always rushed up from the side. On the other side, Havertz spiked the ball past Ederson after a phenomenal through pass from Mason Mount, who had to withdraw his hands to avoid a red card. Guardiola seemed to have gambled away, but he did not change yet. The minutes passed without the dominant Citizens being too dangerous. Captain De Bruyne had to leave the field with a black eye and tearful after a block from Rüdiger. At Chelsea, which was besieged in the end, Werner went goalless. Azpilicueta hit the ball in front of Gündoğan from the line (69th).
Havertz, Werner and Rüdiger will see Gündoğan again very quickly: in the EM training camp of the German national team in Seefeld / Tyrol. It remains to be seen whether the quartet will be allowed to travel to Germany for the first group game in Munich without a two-week quarantine.
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