Chelsea won their 17th major trophy in the last 20 years to go 4 ahead of the Manchester clubs in the last 2 decades as they upset Manchester City 1-0 in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League final in Porto.
A counter-attack strike from Germany international Kai Havertz sealed the deal for the London club at the Estadio do Dragao in Portugal in the Champions League final.
Havertz’s sole strike helped Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 in the Champions League final as the club went onto win its second-ever European Cup after winning it in 2012 previously.
This also happened to be the first time the Blues made the final of the competition since their victory back then.
Man City had much more of the possession, unsurprisingly but Chelsea were patient and mature in their approach. City failed to capitalise as the London side looked resolute in defence, shielded by the world-class Frenchman N’Golo Kante.
Manchester City’s players distraught after the Champions League final loss to Chelsea (Photo by DAVID RAMOS/AFP via Getty Images)
Uncharacteristically, Man City had just one shot on target in the entire game as Senegal international goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was a mere spectator in Chelsea’s goal.
It was a very dull affair that was cagey throughout as even Thomas Tuchel’s side only managed two shots on target but had the telling strike to earn them the cup.
Havertz scored in the 42nd minute and the goal put City on the backfoot. Pep Guardiola’s side tried everything to break Chelsea’s defence and find the equaliser but failed to do so.
Thomas Tuchel turned around Chelsea’s season after taking over from Frank Lampard as they ended up finishing 4th in the Premier League and now won the biggest club competition there is to win.
As for Pep Guardiola, this was his first-ever Champions League final with City and he failed to get over the finishing line. He has been at the club since 2016 and has 3 league titles to his name along with 4 League Cups and 1 FA Cup, including a domestic treble in 2018-19.
Pep Guardiola will hope to lead City to the Champions League title once again. (Photo by JOSE COELHO/AFP via Getty Images)
However, the ultimate aim is to win the Champions League with City but that still evades him.
Chelsea fans piled into the streets surrounding the Stamford Bridge ground of the new kings of European football.
A light show in the club’s blue spelt out “Champions for the Fans” as fireworks went off in the distance.
In northwest England, many Manchester City fans congregated in the Townley Pub in the city and experienced a wave of emotions as their team fell short of becoming European champions for the first time.
They drowned their sorrows but with the consolation that Pep Guardiola’s team ended the season as runaway Premier League champions and retained the League Cup.
The City fans’ emotions went from despair when Havertz scored to anger at the early departure of influential midfielder Kevin De Bruyne after a heavy clash with Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger.
At the final whistle, the sky blue-clad fans began chanting defiantly.
