Chelsea are champions of Europe, Kanté is their king

On that night in Porto, Pep Guardiola's were decisive.

Words and Editorial: Luke James

Gleaming with joy in the wake of Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League final, Kai Havertz delivered a fittingly blunt quip live on BT Sport. “I don’t give a fuck,” the 21-year-old remarked when asked about the transfer fee that saw him swap Leverkusen for West London last summer, “we just won the fucking Champions League, we just celebrate now.”

And celebrate they did.

As his players revelled on the pitch ahead of Chelsea’s adoring supporters, Thomas Tuchel ventured into the crowd, retrieved his children, and guided them onto the turf to share a moment of pure joy. Despite arriving just 122 days before the Champions League final, Tuchel’s name will go down in Chelsea folklore, with the German becoming only the second manager to win the European Cup for the Blues.

And win it he did.

Although Chelsea’s underdog status was exaggerated in the lead up to kick-off in Porto, the West London outfit entered the Champions League final unfancied by the press, bookies, and almost everyone else. In fairness, Tuchel’s Blues arrived on the continent having stumbled into next season’s Champions League on the final day of the Premier League season, having lost the FA Cup final to Leicester City earlier in the month.

Manchester City, on the other hand, looked unstoppable. Well, at least until Havertz applied the emergency break three minutes before half-time at the Estádio do Dragão. Coronated as champions of England at the start of May, Pep Guardiola’s Citizens recovered from a rocky start to 2020/21 by implementing a system so pure no one else dared copy it.

With Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero out of the City line-up, İlkay Gündoğan was installed as the side’s primary goalscorer – supported by the playmaking talent of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, and Riyad Mahrez.

Evidently, the Pep’s tinkering was effective. City won fifteen Premier League games in a row, a run stretching from 19 December to 2 March.

Why, then, did it go so wrong for the Premier League Champions on 29 May? After all, Manchester City – in its current form – is a juggernaut of English football, coached by the preeminent tactician of the 21st century, and bankrolled by the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE.

With Real Madrid and Barcelona on their knees – engulfed in financial and sporting turmoil – this was City’s time to shine; City’s time to win it all. But they didn’t – and their esteemed head coach must bear the brunt of the inevitable fallout.

Another Stinging Defeat for Guardiola:

In the aftermath of Bayern Munich’s 5-0 aggregate defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in April 2014, Guardiola called the semi-final drubbing “a complete fuck up.” The Catalan, in his first season in charge of the German giant, abandoned his ideology in an effort to overcome Carlo Ancelotti’s side and ultimately paid the price. “Such a dreadful defeat will stay with me forever, mentally and emotionally,” he told reporters in Munich.

The opposite happened in Lisbon last year, Guardiola – faced with a highly beatable Lyon side – selected three central defenders and two holding midfielders. It was a colossal error, one that cost his side (one of the favourites to win the competition) dearly and hurt him personally.

Guardiola, when asked about City’s resurgence in 2021, answered by citing the backing he has received from the Etihad club’s hierarchy. “I cannot forget the big disappointment personally against Lyon, the support I had from my chairman,” Guardiola said recently while praising Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s work with City.

In the years between Bayern’s 5-0 loss to Real and City’s 3-1 loss to Lyon, the discourse around Guardiola has grown toxic. Often, the charge made against the former midfielder is that he overthinks the big games.

It is easy to see why. Read any account of Guardiola’s approach to his job and you will immediately read stories about his relentless preparation. On this topic, Domènec Torrent, Guardiola’s assistant from 2007 to 2018, said: “When we play a friendly — a friendly! — in pre-season, he does the same. He’s incapable of going into a game, even a friendly, without watching and knowing how they play.”

Against Chelsea, Guardiola’s meticulousness came unstuck.

City started the game, the biggest in club football, without a recognised deep-lying midfielder. Ederson started between the pipes for the Mancunians, with Kyle Walker, John Stones, Rúben Dias and Oleksandr Zinchenko comprising his back four.

Ahead of them, İlkay Gündoğan started in midfield alongside Bernardo Silva and Stockport’s finest, Phil Foden. Up top, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, and Raheem Sterling lead the way.

It took an hour for City to make a change, with an injured De Bruyne replaced by Gabriel Jesus and Silva pulled for Fernandinho.

In that moment, Guardiola’s mistake became clear to see. Replacing an attacking midfielder with a defensive midfielder in the 64th minute of a Champions League final while trailing by a goal is an admission of guilt.

Manchester City lacked balance against Chelsea on Saturday night. Worse, Manchester City lacked a cutting-edge – which is precisely the issue Guardiola was hoping to avoid by deploying Gündoğan in a deeper role.

In his post-match press conference, Guardiola said: “I did my best in the selection. I made the best selection to win the game, the players know it.

“I think Gundogan played well. We missed a little in the first half to break the lines, but in the second half it was much better. It was a tight game but we had enormous chances.”

Embed from Getty Images

The City head coach remarked that Guardiola had been installed as his side’s deepest midfield because of the German’s ability to move the ball quickly. It is impossible to argue with his logic. If the question is ‘who will progress the ball quickest: Gündoğan, Rodri, or Fernandinho?’ the answer is obvious.

I’m just not sure Guardiola was asking the right question.

Manchester City won the title – in fairly imperious fashion – by slow-balling. This year, City excelled to a larger extent in defence than attack. Guardiola’s side, fluid as ever in the final third, prospered because they found a way to be effective at both ends of the field. That much has been obvious in the discourse about this team. Dias, not De Bruyne, has been the star.

Like against Real Madrid and Lyon, Guardiola rolled the dice. And he rolled two ones.

City’s approach didn’t work. Edouard Mendy was forced to make just one save. Chelsea out xG’ed City 1.25 – 0.57.

In the final ten minutes of the biggest game in Manchester City’s history, Guardiola’s side resorted to “getting it in the mixer,” with Walker hurling long throws into the box.

This defeat is on Pep, and he knows it.

Full Marks for Tommy Tactics:

“I expected Fernandinho in the line-up,” Thomas Tuchel told reporters in Porto. Evidently, shock and awe was not an effective tactic for Chelsea’s opponents.

Although it is easy to point the finger at Manchester City and say ‘not starting a defensive midfielder was pretty dumb’ (as I just have), it’s incredibly important to acknowledge the other side of the coin in equal measure.

Chelsea’s performance was perfect. Tuchel’s set-up was perfect. The West Londoners are now two-time Champions League captors, and it’s thoroughly well-deserved.

The Blues line-up for their third Champions League final since 2008 as expected. Edouard Mendy was tasked with backstopping Tuchel’s side, with César Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, and Antonio Rüdiger featuring in defence.

Reece James and Ben Chilwell flanked N’Golo Kanté and Jorginho in midfield, whilst Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, and Timo Werner provided the majority of Chelsea’s threat.

The final ten minutes of the match saw the new champions of Europe penned in their own half, forced to absorb wave-after-wave of City pressure. There isn’t much to say about Chelsea’s defensive performance – this is what Tuchel’s side have been doing since January.

Let’s look at the goal instead:

Now, it’s important to note that Mendy started the fateful play by spraying the ball to his left. Chilwell, in one touch, knocked the ball to Mount, who turns in possession, takes two touches, and threads his pass between City’s centre backs to the onrushing Havertz.

The most important part of the game-winning goal, however, belongs to Werner, who drags the City defence out of position by running across Dias and in the direction of Zinchenko.

Forced to track Werner’s run (through the fear that Werner’s pace could free him to receive the ball in space), Dias shifted across, allowing Havretz to make a similarly slanted run in front of Walker.

The German’s finish obviously wasn’t an all-timer – but I doubt he (or anyone attached to either participating club) cares one jot.

What’s my point? Well, the goal was made in Tuchel’s image. Mount made the key pass. Werner made the key run. Havertz applied the finishing touch. The movement we saw from Chelsea in Porto is what they should have been doing all season; only Frank Lampard wasn’t adept enough to complete his £222 million jigsaw.

To be blunt, Tuchel won the tactical match-up – and it allowed Chelsea, as underdogs, to win the game.

N’Golo Kante’s Legacy of Excellence:

"It's straightforward, yes he is the best in the world,” Chelsea captain César Azpilicueta said of N’Golo Kante at full-time. “He does everything. The energy he brings, I don't know how many ball recoveries he had today. The way he drives the ball forward, he covers so much ground.

"It is special to have him. Of course, when we don't have him, we miss him. After winning the World Cup and now Champions League, he is still so humble as a person. I am so happy for him, he is a massive part of this team and I am very happy to have him next to me for a few years," the Spaniard added.

Kante already holds a special place in football history. You know the story. The Frenchman was plying his trade in Ligue 2 until the age of 23, at which point he swapped Caen for Leicester and immediately won the Premier League.

In this season’s Champions League, he has been excellent.

In yesterday’s final, he was frighteningly good. Let’s have a quick look at his stats against City:

  • 85% passing accuracy
  • 53 touches
  • 11 duels won (most)
  • 10 ball recoveries (most)
  • 4 aerials won
  • 3 tackles
  • 2 touches in the opp. box
  • 2 clearances
  • 2 interceptions
  • 2 fouls won

Kante’s numbers speak for themselves. The Parisian put on a masterclass in Lisbon. His claim for this year’s Balon d’Or grows stronger every day.

Chelsea are champions of Europe, and N’Golo Kante is their king.

TopBuilt with Shorthand