Who Will Come Out On Top In The Champions League Final

The European club season reaches its climax this weekend and although it is Portugal which is now hosting the latest edition of the Champions League final, it is going to be an all-English affair on Saturday night.

One that comes courtesy of Manchester City squaring off against Chelsea and for the Etihad outfit, they will hope that their quest to conquer the continent, is one that finally comes to an end in the city of Porto.

While at the same time, Chelsea will be looking to land their first Champions League trophy since 2012 and if that is to be the case, then the appointment of Thomas Tuchel is one that will be largely justified.

The German was installed at the turn of the year, as the Blues languished outside the European paying positions and with the West Londoners lying ninth under former boss Frank Lampard, a sacrifice had to be made.

One that has seen Tuchel lead his new charges to Wembley earlier in the month and although there would have been an element of frustration after losing to Leicester in the F.A. Cup final, such disappointment can also be quickly erased.

While when it comes to disappointment, Tuchel knows what it is like to lose in UEFA’s showpiece event and after overseeing PSG’s one-nil defeat to Bayern Munich last summer, he will now look to go one better.

Of course, when it comes to being better, Pep Guardiola knows all about that and perhaps more importantly, he knows how to win the Champions League. Then again, it’s not something he has achieved since 2011.

That was the year in which Barcelona lifted the Champions League trophy for the second time in three years and although City may not be able to rely on the mercurial talents of Lionel Messi, they are not short of superstars themselves.

A cabal of players who have won this season’s Premier League title at a canter and although they failed to land a second domestic treble int third years, they did at least manage to maintain their vice like grip on the Carabao Cup.

While the reason that they failed to return to the F.A. Cup final, was after suffering defeat to Chelsea at the stage before and although revenge is not necessarily the primary objective for Pep Guardiola, such a loss will certainly not be forgotten.

Which makes Saturday’s meeting such an enticing prospect and when looking at the sports odds for such an encounter, it is difficult to predict just who will come out on top. However, if you want to put your money where your mouth is, there is certainly the opportunity to do so.

With City already experiencing joy in a final and the fact that they have been the Premier League’s dominant force this season, they go into their clash with Chelsea as favourites and you would have to say rightly so.

Both bookmakers and punters seemingly have a lot of confidence in the Manchester outfit finally getting their hands on a trophy that they have been chasing for a decade now and at odds of 9/10, there is also a decent amount of value at the same time.

Then again, anything can happen in a final of this magnitude and when you look at Chelsea, they are certainly not coming to Porto to make up the numbers and at odds of 15/4, it is not a price to be overlooked.

If the game is to be won or lost, a lot will depend on the fitness of Chelsea goalkeeper Eduoard Mendy and after going off injured against Aston Villa last Sunday, manager Thomas Tuchel will now be sweating on his availability.

While as far as City are concerned, the only selection concerns that Pep Guardiola has is just who to start and although Sergio Aguero was only a substitute against Everton, the Argentine did score a brace after coming off the bench.

Which gives his manager an incredible selection headache and with Aguero soon to be swapping Manchester for Barcelona this summer, he will be looking for an ever better sending off than the one he received at the Etihad.

Is it written in the stars for City to finally reach the promised land or will Chelsea play the role of spoiler in the pursuit of silverware once more? Whichever way it goes, it is set to be an exhilarating 90 minutes or more if necessary.