Last season could be the most memorable period in Manchester City's history as they both won the Premier League and had the opportunity to win the Champions League for the first time. Unfortunately, in the final stand, the minimal defeat to Chelsea disappointed The Citizens.
In fact, Man City's defeat in the Champions League final last season may have been planned by Chelsea early. Man City was clearly very confused at the time in preparation to face Chelsea.
Before last year's final, The Citizens suffered 2 consecutive defeats against The Blues in the FA Cup and Premier League. Of which, in the FA Cup loss, Pep made 8 changes to the squad, this number is 9 for the Premier League loss.
In contrast to Chelsea, those 2 wins both created more motivation and helped them have more options to defeat their opponents in the Champions League final.
Tonight will be a great opportunity for Manchester City to straighten the balance of power between the two teams. In the context of a stalemate against Southampton in the previous round, Pep and his students need 3 points to climb to the top of the table.
However, what are the opportunities for the away team when the current version of Chelsea under Tuchel is too perfect? In five games this season, the Blues have won four and drawn one. In the draw with Liverpool, Chelsea played with one less player early but still played balanced, even having a time at Anfield.
Chelsea stole the Champions League title from Man City 119 days ago and now, they are ready to defeat their opponent directly once again. Since the beginning of the season, despite playing away, for the teams in the Big 6, Chelsea are unbeaten and Man City should prepare mentally.
Facing Lukaku has never been easy for central defenders in the past 2-3 years. The fact that Man City may lack both Laporte and Stones makes Dias' partner weak (perhaps Ake). In addition, the fact that the defenders have come up too high but ineffectively (such as the match against So'ton) could cost the away team.
Having many balls against Chelsea for nearly 20 years has proven to not affect the final result of the match much. Man City is currently the team with the most possession of the tournament with an average rate of 67.5%. However, in 2 of the last 5 matches, The Citizens have not been able to score, this number is equal to the record in the previous 30 matches.
Scoring against Chelsea is an extremely difficult task for all teams in Europe since Tuchel took charge. In just 37 games in charge of the Blues, Tuchel has seen the team suffer 22 goals. Since the beginning of the season, they have only conceded 1 goal in 5 matches.
7 defensive factors in Chelsea's formation could continue to make Man City stuck. The trio of central defenders, midfielders and 2 central elements form a solid wall. It is worth mentioning that Tuchel made them play coordinatedly, not because they were too crowded but stepping on each other, that is something that no coach has been able to do in Europe at the moment.
Man City will return to the champions' mindset if they win at Stamford Bridge tonight. As for Chelsea, they will become unbeaten if they beat this big opponent.
