Manchester City and Chelsea meet in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday, May 29 in Porto.
In 2016, Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City with a clear directive: Lead the club to its first Champions League title. After nearly five years, Guardiola has the Premier League champions 90 minutes from that coveted trophy with a familiar foe in Chelsea standing in the way.
It's been nine years since Chelsea was crowned champions of Europe. This year's path followed a similar route to 2012 with a midseason coaching change that galvanized a team playing well below its potential. Thomas Tuchel is the first manager to lead two different teams to the Champions League finals in consecutive years. On Saturday, the former PSG coach will have his chance to avenge last season's 1-0 final loss to Bayern Munich.
Either way, between Chelsea's Christian Pulisic and Manchester City's Zack Steffen, an American international will lift the trophy for the second time, following in the path of former Borussia Dortmund forward Jovan Kirovski. Both USMNT stars begin the final on the bench.
How to Watch:
Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV channel: CBS, Univision, TUDN
Live Stream: You can watch the match on fuboTV. Sign up now for a free seven-day trial. You can also view it via Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access).
Lineups:
Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko; Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.
Chelsea XI: Mendy; James, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Werner.
Manchester City arrived at its first Champions League final by way of Paris, dispatching last year's runner-up PSG with a 4-1 aggregate thanks in part to three goals from Riyad Mahrez in the two legs. Meanwhile, Chelsea put on a clinical display against Real Madrid in its semifinal, following up a 1-1 draw with a masterful 2-0 result at home.
But the Blues are fortunate not to be relying on the final as their ticket into next season's Champions League. The club lost three of its last four games to end the season, including the FA Cup final but squeezed into fourth place on the final day after Leicester City blew a late lead to Spurs.
The final in Porto will be the ninth meeting between Guardiola and Tuchel; however, since his arrival at Stamford Bridge, Tuchel's Chelsea has ended City's FA Cup run and delayed its title celebrations with two wins. Their last meeting came in a 2-1 Chelsea win on May 8 at the Etihad, highlighted by Sergio Agüero's failed Panenka penalty and a stoppage-time Marcos Alonso winner.
Saturday will mark Agüero's final game with Manchester City after a 10-year career that featured five Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a Golden Boot. Yet one elusive trophy remains that can only cement his storied legacy.
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