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Manchester City and Chelsea tonight meet in an all-English Champions League Final in Porto.
Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel will face off for the ultimate prize in European club football as the Premier League rivals battle it out for the European Cup.
Man City are looking to complete a treble after already lifting the Premier League and Carabao Cup this season, while Chelsea could end a dramatic campaign on a high.
This is the one trophy which has eluded Guardiola so far at City, and winning it would further cement his credentials as the best coach in the business.
Date, kick-off time and venue location
Man City vs Chelsea is scheduled for an 8pm BST kick-off on Saturday, May 29, 2021.
The Champions League Final had initially been due to take place at Attaturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. However, Turkey was added to the UK’s ‘red list’ for travel following a rise in coronavirus cases.
Given that decision, Uefa considered moving the game to Wembley – but it was not possible to earn the necessary quarantine exemptions for sponsors, VIPs and broadcasters from the Government for an all-English final on home soil.
Therefore, the final was moved to Portugal, with Porto’s Estadio do Dragao hosting the match. Both teams will have 6,000 tickets each for fans, with 20,000 people in total expected to attend the match.
Man City vs Chelsea team news
Man City have little to worry about in terms of injury problems, though Ilkay Gundogan suffered a knock to his thigh in training on Friday following a collision with captain Fernandinho.
Sergio Aguero scored twice off the bench against Everton in his final League game for City, but it would be a surprise to see him start with Guardiola once again likely to opt for a striker-less formation.
Chelsea had two key injury concerns in midfielder N’Golo Kante and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, but the duo returned to training on Wednesday and were included in Tuchel’s 25-man squad which flew to Porto on Thursday.
Man City vs Chelsea lineups
Manchester City predicted XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Rodri, Bernardo; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden
Chelsea predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Chilwell; Ziyech, Mount; Werner
Chelsea squad
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero
Defenders: Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Emerson
Midfielders: Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, Tino Anjorin
Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz
Man City squad
Goalkeepers: Ederson, Scott Carson, Zack Steffen, James Trafford
Defenders: Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Joao Cancelo, Eric Garcia
Midfielders: Ilkay Gundogan, Rodrigo, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ferran Torres, Fernandinho
Forwards: Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden
Man City vs Chelsea prediction
Even most Chelsea fans would accept that City are favourites to win in Porto, but both sides have more than enough quality to lift the trophy on the day.
Tuchel has marked himself out as something of a specialist against other top managers, but Chelsea’s limp FA Cup Final defeat and subsequent League defeat at Villa Park will be a big concern.
With neither side likely to start a recognised centre forward, it could well come down to which defence deals with fluid attacks better – and City have been imperious in that regard this term.
Man City 2-1 Chelsea
Head to head (h2h) history and results
The sides have only met in one previous Uefa club competition tie, with Chelsea beating Man City 2-0 in the 1970/71 European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals, winning both ties 1-0.
The teams have met three times this season. City won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League in January, but Chelsea beat City 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-finals and then left the Etihad with a 2-1 League victory on May 8.
In terms of their overall history, the teams have payed each other 166 times domestically, with Chelsea winning 68 games to City’s 58 victories, and 40 draws shared.