Champions League final preview: Four key battles for Man City vs Chelsea
Knowing both of the managers involved, you can bet every last dime you own they have spent an unhealthy number of hours analysing each other and fine-tuning a masterplan to come out victorious in Saturday's Champions League final.
Pep Guardiola is remarkably preparing for his first Champions League final in a decade, while Thomas Tuchel will hope to go one further on Saturday after the disappointment of losing last season's show-piece event to Bayern Munich while in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.
Ahead of such a fascinating all-English European final, the second in three years, we have picked out four key battles on the pitch to keep an eye on in Portugal.
Ederson vs Edouard Mendy
Ederson and Edouard Mendy are not comparable in style but both are equally important. Ederson is not just important for his principle role as a goalkeeper but he is also key to getting City on the front foot. His distribution is as good as it gets from a goalkeeper and he is capable of setting up goalscoring chances himself. He already has one assist this season.
Mendy, meanwhile, has helped bring stability back to Chelsea's defence after last season's horror-show with Kepa between the sticks. No player committed more errors leading to an opposition goal in the Premier League this season than Kepa (3) and he only made seven appearances. Mendy, meanwhile, ranks top for clean sheets in the Champions League this season (8) and in total has kept 24 in 43 appearances across all competitions. He will need to be at his shot-stopping best to deny City's attackers on Saturday.
Ruben Dias vs Thiago Silva
Ruben Dias is back in his homeland on Saturday, where he developed into the defender that convinced City to shell out a club-record fee for him last summer. Big money brings big expectations but Dias has even exceeded them this season. His impact on City's defence has been colossal, similar to Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool. With Dias in the side City now boost one of the meanest backlines in Europe. Dias always seems to be in the right place at the right time and he is typically calm on the ball to help instigate attacks. In fact, of players with at least seven appearances in the Champions League this season, Dias has the best pass success rate (94.7%).
Chelsea lavished more than £200m on new signings in the summer. Thiago Silva was one of several new arrivals but actually signed on a free transfer. He landed with a bigger, more established reputation than Dias, but he has still performed above expectations. Many wondered what Silva had left in the tank at 36 but, after a nightmare debut, has oozed class and composure at the back for Chelsea. Both Silva and Dias are going to play massive roles for their sides on Saturday night.
Rodri vs Jorginho
Pep Guardiola actually wanted Jorginho at City before Chelsea hi-jacked the deal to leave the Premier League champions furious with Napoli. They still haven't forgiven their Serie A counterparts. After missing out on Jorginho, Guardiola waited another 12 months before addressing that position in midfield properly and City ended up signing Rodri from Atletico Madrid for a then-record fee. Things were not smooth sailing for Rodri in his first season at the club, often criticised for being too slow on the ball. City fans loothed seeing Rodri in the side over Fernandinho but that is not the case this season. The Spaniard has really come on leaps and bounds this season.
Jorginho has endured a similar Premier League career to Rodri. He arrived with big expectations but really struggled to live up to them initially. He often looked like Chelsea's biggest weakness and it didn't look like he would stay for long once Maurizio Sarri was sacked and returned to Italy. However, Jorginho has perserved and emerged as a big character for Chelsea, even captaining the side on occasions. Remarkably, he finished the 2020/21 Premier League campaign as Chelsea's top scorer with seven goals all from penalites. Given how aggressive both midfields will be in their pressing on Saturday, neither can afford to dally on the ball.
Phil Foden vs Mason Mount
2020/21 has been an exceptional year for both Phil Foden and Mason Mount but they will be looking to get one over on each other on Saturday before reuniting as team-mates for England's Euro 2020 campaign this summer. Calls for Pep Guardiola to use Phil Foden more regularly feel a thing of the past now, as the 21-year-old has developed into one of the first names on the teamsheet since the turn of the year. Foden has delivered on the biggest of stages time after time this season and has surely worked his way into Gareth Southgate's best England XI this summer. Foden scored twice in City's quarter-final win over Borussia Dortmund and provided one assist in their semi-final triumph over PSG. He has played a direct hand in 26 goals in all competitions for City this season.
Southgate was already well aware just how good Mason Mount was at the start of the season but it's fair to say it took a while to convince wider football fans of his talents. However, there is certainly no doubt how good Mount is now and he has even been tipped as a future Chelsea captain, even surprisingly Thomas Tuchel with his ability. Mount doesn't have as many goals and assists as Foden this season but he is certainly as important, if not more, to his side.
