Chelsea shatters City’s dream

NAMPA / AFP Kai Havertz rounded Ederson Moraes to score three minutes before half-time at the Estadio do Dragao and the Chelsea players ran to celebrate with the German.Coach Thomas Tuchel, full of energy on the touchline just like his opposite number, punched the air in celebration and later jumped with joy on the pitch after Chelsea held on for victory in the second half after City lost distraught skipper Kevin De Bruyne to injury.The London club finished fourth in the Premier League, a huge 19 points behind champions City, but this, remarkably, was their third win over Guardiola's side in six weeks.They ended City's hopes of a domestic treble when they triumphed in the FA Cup semi-finals in April and delayed their title celebrations with victory in Manchester.Now, in a final watched by a limited crowd of just over 14 000 fans who created a raucous atmosphere, they have denied City the first Champions League crown they and Guardiola so crave."It was an incredibly tough fight, what a fight. Today they were determined to win this. We wanted to be the stone in their shoe," Tuchel told BT Sport.Attitude gave the win"The effort was huge. We overcame some difficult moments and had a fantastic attitude to defending."City had to wait 13 years after being taken over by Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour just to get to the Champions League final.They are now the eighth consecutive team to lose in their first appearance at this stage. The same misfortune befell Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain last year as well as Tottenham Hotspur when they were beaten by Liverpool in the last all-English final in 2019."It is the first time we're here, we'll learn, we'll come back. The players did everything, they wanted to do well, to win this competition. Sometimes you perform well, sometimes not,” Guardiola said.Chelsea also lost when they first got to the final on penalties against Manchester United in Moscow in 2008.‘Best team in the world’They overcame the final hurdle by beating Bayern Munich in a shoot-out in 2012 and now they have their second European Cup to move level with Juventus, Benfica and Porto as well as another English side, Nottingham Forest.Their transformation into one of Europe's super clubs has been down to the riches of Roman Abramovich, their Russian oligarch owner who was in attendance in Portugal."It's such a special occasion. At this moment in time, we're the best team in the world. You can't take that away from us," Mason Mount, who has been outstanding for the Stamford Bridge side this season, saidChelsea have been transformed since Tuchel’s appointment as coach in January, but City were still the favourites after their third Premier League title triumph in four seasons.

Chelsea shatters City’s dream

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Republikein 2025-08-22

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