Manchester City vs Chelsea: A unique, but not historic UCL final on Saturday

Manchester City and Chelsea will battle it out for the coveted Champions League title on Saturday in Portugal. It’ll be a unique final, but not historic. Why? For starters, this will be the eighth time in tournament history that two teams from the same association will face each other. All of these occurrences have taken place in the 21st century. The first was in 2000 and featured Real Madrid and Valencia; the most recent, in 2019, starring Tottenham and Liverpool. Second, this will be the third all-English affair. Chelsea were involved in the first, losing 6-5 on penalties to Manchester United in 2008, and the second was the aforementioned 2019 clash between Liverpool and Tottenham, during which the Reds won 2-0 in regular time.

For Manchester City, their journey to this juncture has been a long time coming. A very long time. The Cityzens haven’t featured in a European final in over 50 years. Their last, and only appearance was during the 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup final, when they beat Polish side Górnik Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna. City, of course, have changed drastically since then. Abu Dhabi United Group purchased the team in 2008 for over £200 million, and no cost has been spared to bring City back not just to the pinnacle of English football, but also to join Europe’s elite.

Unfortunately, they’ve succeed on one front: domestic. On the continent, they’ve come up short. That is, until now. For all intents and purposes, City are just 90 minutes away from finally getting their hands on the big prize. Only thing is, Chelsea are gunning for the exact same thing. Like City, the Blues are also owned by a very wealthy, ambitious owner, who hasn’t hesitated to splash the cash to get his team where he wants them to be. That includes no room for sentimental feelings. Blues fans saw that with how Frank Lampard was ruthlessly jettisoned earlier this year after failing to post positive results, with Thomas Tuchel appointed in his stead.

Unlike City, Chelsea aren’t strangers to European success; so far, they’ve added two Europa Leagues and one Champions League to their cabinet. But unlike City, who come into this game in a very rich vein of recent form, Chelsea’s form leaves something to be desired. Pep Guardiola’s men have already won two titles this season – the Premier League and the EFL Cup. Their Premier League triumph marks their third in just the last four seasons. Chelsea, meanwhile, were beaten to the FA Cup by Leicester City, and were fortunate that a matchday 38 loss to Aston Villa didn’t knock them out of a top-four spot. Ironically, they owe it to London rivals Tottenham, who beat the same Leicester City (that Chelsea had gotten a modicum of revenge on just a few days prior) 4-2 on the final matchday to block the Foxes from pipping them to the final Champions League spot.

Of course, if Chelsea do win the Champions League on Saturday, it wouldn’t matter where they finished in the table, but Tuchel knows that’s not an absolute guarantee. They are facing Manchester City, and although Chelsea have beaten them in two of their three meetings so far this season (including eliminating them in the semis of the FA Cup), the Blues know that the Cityzens will present a very tough opponent.

Both teams have been truly impressive so far in this season’s Champions League – especially defensively. Each have conceded a measly four goals, which is the lowest of two finalists in quite some time, and hopefully will make for a very interesting tactical battle. Both Chelsea and Manchester City should also have everyone available, as Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, and Edouard Mendy look set to shake off respective injury issues, while Ilkay Gundogan has reportedly declared himself fit.

All in all, no matter what happens on Saturday, one thing is certain: In this unique, but not historic final, an English team will return home as champions of Europe. The only thing we’ll all be waiting to find out is whether it’ll be Manchester City for the first time, or Chelsea for the second.