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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
James Robson

Man City vs Chelsea FC predictions and tactics: Where Champions League Final 2021 will be won and lost

Premier League rivals Manchester City and Chelsea will meet in Porto in tonight’s Champions League final.

Since Thomas Tuchel’s appointment, the Blues have played two and won two against the English champions.

Who will have the edge on the European stage? Here’s where the final will be won and lost.

Can Tuchel surprise Pep again?

Pep Guardiola was out-thought in the FA Cup semi-final and then outdone by Thomas Tuchel's tactical tweak at half-time when the sides met in the Premier League this month.

He will know what to expect this time, so can Chelsea spring a surprise? This will certainly be a different City side to the ones Tuchel has beaten, with Guardiola shuffling his pack on those occasions.

(The FA via Getty Images)

Will anyone suffer stage fright?

The team that handles the pressure of coming so close to the biggest prize in club football could well be the one that wins.

This is unknown territory for City, who have let nerves get the better of them repeatedly in this competition. Meltdowns in each of Guardiola's previous four seasons have cost them heavily.

Chelsea may have won the Champions League, but this is a new group of players — a group that has already frozen on the big occasion in recent weeks, namely in the FA Cup Final and the last day of the season, when beaten by Aston Villa.

(Getty Images)

Can City Hak Ziyech?

Chelsea's lack of goals will be Tuchel's greatest concern, with the German repeatedly bemoaning their lack of composure in the final third. But in Hakim Ziyech they have a player who has got under the skin of City in recent times.

Ziyech scored the winner in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and was outstanding with another goal at the Etihad three weeks ago.

His pace on the break has caught City out in each of the recent meetings — and although he has not been a regular under Tuchel, the Chelsea manager will be very tempted to start him tomorrow.

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