Chelsea meet Manchester City in the final at Istanbul
Chelsea 2-0 Real Madrid
Werner (28’), Mount (85’) (Agg 3-1)
Chelsea will face Manchester City in the Champions League final in Istanbul after overcoming Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge, played behind closed doo0rs. Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy made two fine first-half saves from Karim Benzema, but they were able to build on thE1-1draw they achieved in Madrid when Timo Werner headed in from almost on the goal-line in the 28th minute after kai Havertz had lofted a finish on to the bar. In the second half, Chelsea managed to dominate the game.
Real’s former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved from N’golo Kante and Havertz, who also headed against the bar, while Mason Mount shot widely over the top when clean through., but eventually Mount, finally sealed Chelsea’s place in their first Champions League final since they won the competition in 2012.
Manchester City dismissed PSG in the other semi-final.
Manchester City 2 -o PSG
Aggregate 4-1
Riyad Mahrez fires Man City to first Champions League final
Chelsea will go into the final as underdogs given City’s current form.
Chelsea’s defence is solid and has a strong midfield, while City will look back on a convincing win against Lampard’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge earlier this season that really kick-started their campaign into action.
Uefa has insisted the final will take place in Istanbul despite current lockdown measures in Turkey.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said, “ They deserve to win. First off, it’s difficult because Real had a lot of possession and they made us suffer, but we were dangerous with counter-attacks and never lost the hunger, never lost their desire to defend. The second half was even better, the structure to defend and in the second half, we could’ve scored much earlier. It’s a fantastic achievement and big congratulations to the team”. Chelsea has reached their third Champions League final, also doing so in 2008 and 2012. At 22 years and 15 days, Mason Mount became the second-youngest Englishman to score in the semi-finals o the Champions League after Wayne Rooney (21 years and 182 days vs Milan). Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has kept eight Champions League clean sheets this season, the most ever by a goalkeeper for an English club in a single season.