Uefa Champions League Final 2020-21 || An Overview of Two Finalist Team & Match Review

mahirabdullah (63)Verified+Dg[1050SP]in Steem Bangladesh • 4 years ago (edited)

Hello Everyone! Today we have a look back at the biggest game in a season of club football. The UEFA Champions League final. The game took place in Porto,Portugal. Played on the night of 29th of May.

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In the most prestigious game in European Football, the two English giants Chelsea and Manchester City faced off. Even though since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea have beaten Manchester City twice, once in the FA cup semi finals and the other in a Premier League clash, they were considered underdogs just because the sheer strength Manchester City had in their multi billion dollar squad, a very talented group of players, coached by none other than the Sextuple winning coach, Josep Guardiola, also known as Pep Guardiola. The celebrated coach had to prove his worth by winning a Champions League with another team but Barcelona. After failing to do so in his time at Munich, and after spending about a billion euros in Manchester City, a Champions League medal was the holy grail for both Pep and City.

Man City's Path To The Final

UCL Final Venue _Source

City progressed through the groups with relative ease, also got an easy win in the round of 16. In Quarter Final, they faced Borrusia Dortmund, slenderly having a lead in the first leg, they went on to beat them in the second leg too with an aggregate score of 4-2. Then in the semi finals they faced PSG who were a strong contender for the title having beaten the defending champions Bayern Munich. But PSG failed to capitalize on City's weakest spot, also they were unable to defend counters. With the speed of Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria, and Manchester City's lack of experience in such a stage of this competition, PSG were favorites to win. But they couldn't and fell prey to their own miserable defense. City took their chances by beating PSG by an aggregate score of 4-1 as they reach the ultimate stage, the UEFA Champions League final.

Many Ups & Downs For Chelsea

On the contrary, Chelsea had more of a rollercoaster season. As they had to endure a change in management mid season, bringing PSG's previous manager Thomas Tuchel. Chelsea were enjoying a good start to the season under then manager Frank Lampard, soon lost track in mid season, and then Lampard was sacked by Chelsea, a club who are known for sacking managers, whenever the results aren't favoring them.

Lampard Was Struggling To Get Best Out Of The Team _Source

After hiring Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea had a remarkable turnaround, as they tightened up their defense, scoring goals against Chelsea became very hard, Tuchel was delivering, Chelsea was on track.

Chelsea's Race To The Ultimate Victory

Chelsea's European campaign wasn't so shaky like their Premier League campaign, even under Frank Lampard they breezed past their opponents in the group stage, qualifying for the round of 16 with a game in hand. After finishing the group stages Lampard was sacked.

From round of 16 Chelsea had their new manager, Thomas Tuchel. There they face the then La Liga leaders Atletico de Madrid (they eventually won the La Liga). In a crunch match of Atletico's stubborn defending and playing on the break, while Chelsea were doing circles around the Atletico box, French striker Olivier Giroud produced a moment of magic & scored a goal. Chelsea win the tie by a narrow 1-0 score.

Olivier Giroud Scored The Decider Past Jan Oblak By A Spectacular Overhead Kick _Source

Coming into the second leg, people thought this time Simeone's side will knock Chelsea out. But surprisingly Atletico played defensively yet again and Chelsea picked up a comfortable 2-0 win, winning the tie with an aggregate score of 3-0.

In the quarter finals, they faced Porto, who were confident after knocking out Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus. But in a big stage like this experience is key, and Chelsea were comfortably through to the semis where the face Real Madrid. None thought Chelsea could beat Real Madrid, but an injury hit Madrid wasn't at their fullest, but were dangerous, yet Chelsea outplayed them over 2legs, winning by and aggregate score of 3-1, as they marched on to the finals, seeking to win the Champions League for the 2nd time in their history.

The Most Awaited Final Match

Come to the final, Chelsea are still underdogs, to City's superior squad and quality. Chelsea weren't far behind though, they also had an immensely talented squad who are yet to unleash. Pep can be at fault here, as he didn't use a conventional defensive midfielder nor a striker in the biggest game in City's history. Chelsea were on point of course, they played on the counter, using the speed of Mount, Werner and Havertz. Havertz Scored The Only Goal Of The Game Just Before Half Time

City always looked like chasing, also credit to the Chelsea defense for keeping the City forwards at bay. A slight mistake from one and a perfect execution from the other meant Chelsea have won their 2nd Champions League title crushing City's dreams of being the Europe's finest, and meanwhile throwing a big question mark at Pep Guardiola's ability.

Will City be able to win the Champions League ever? Will Pep prove his doubters wrong? Time will tell.