Yeah, after a nuke/asteroid combo, I'm hoping for a Chelsea win.
City of Manchester's quest for European glory
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Haha fuck me. Everyone wants the Chavs ... no Liverpool fan in their right mind would want Pep the wunderkind and Etihad City.
Same although two CL’s is on the road to annoying.
Brawl on the streets of Porto.
Expel both. No winner this year.
Expel both. No winner this year.
Console yourself with the thought that that's as many as Ginsoak managed.
I thought that this article sums up tonight's game pretty well.............................
It's the big one. The season has come down to just this, 90 minutes to decide who will be the crowned the best side in Europe.
In the blue corner, weighing in with a net worth of $19.3 billion we have the big oil oligarch, the prowling primary owner of private investment company Millhouse LLC, the ragin’ Russian…. Roman Abramovich.
It’s the other blue corner weighing in with a net worth of $22 billion, it’s the Eminent Emirati, the City Football Group supremo, your friend and mine… Sheikh Mansour.
So who to cheer on when you’ve got the plaything of a Russian billionaire who made his fortune during the murky break-up of the Soviet Union against a club that’s been described as "brazen attempts to sportswash a country’s deeply tarnished image" by Amnesty International?
It’s a tough question for anyone who’s not a supporter of Chelsea or Manchester City.
Indeed for those who aren’t fans of either club, you could be forgiven for forgetting that the Champions League final takes place this Saturday, such is the lack of hype or possibly even interest outside of the involved clubs.
Much of the drama and entertainment around the build-up to a big sports event comes from the narrative that surrounds the match, the ability to tell a story to hook those that have no skin in the game already.
In the past two weeks alone we’ve seen a Spanish team from a town of 50,000 lift their first ever piece of silverware by overcoming one of the true giants of European football. We’ve seen the side that wrote the biggest Cinderella story in sport just a few years ago lift the FA Cup for the first time in their history.
In the mind of many neutrals at least, the Europa League final has already arguably overshadowed the Champions League and it’s easy to see why.
On Saturday we’ll be treated to two of the most financially powerful teams in any sport, two of the teams that tried to lead a breakaway closed shop of European football compete for the trophy they not only belittled but tried to relegate to a second-tier competition.
There’s no romance to be found here and perhaps that's why the build-up to the final of the biggest competition in club soccer has been so muted.
It’s a showpiece that’s lacking any kind of underdog story to hook the neutrals, with no brave tales of redemption to be told. Neither side are going to get their comeuppance for their part in the failed European Super League coup, it’s Shooter McGavin versus Biff Tannen and one of them has to win.
The stakes aren’t there either and there’s no real sense of jeopardy for either side.
Sure Chelsea might lose, Abramovich could get an itchy trigger-finger and get ride of Thomas Tuchel. But as the London side have shown down through the years, it doesn’t really matter who manages them, they’ll still find a way to bring in the brightest young players in Europe, loan out half of them, and will be back challenging for top honours next year.
Likewise with Manchester City. The Champions League is the one piece of silverware that has eluded Pep Guardiola during his time at the Etihad and he’s clearly desperate to add to the two trophies he won as Barcelona manager but nothing’s going to change if he somehow doesn’t get his hands on it.
City will be back at the top of the Premier League, Guardiola will get the money to sign whoever he wants and will be getting chippy with anyone who dares to suggest that maybe having the cash to outspend other clubs might just play a role in his side’s success.
With that said, it’s a game that has the potential to be an entertaining game of football at least, with the classic contrast in styles between Guardiola’s evolved form of possession based tiki-taka up against the defence-first solidity of Tuchel’s Chelsea.
City are the favourites going into the game and the form team as Chelsea ended their domestic campaign on a downward note, limping into the top four with London rivals Tottenham saving their bacon on the final day with victory over Leicester.
Tuchel’s biggest problem has been his side’s prolificacy in front of goal. They’ve been creating all the chances they’ve needed to win games as the disciples of xG will no doubt tell you but they’ve been unable to take their chances with Timo Werner desperately struggling for goals as Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud kick their heels on the bench.
For City the biggest obstacle to their success may well be their manager’s propensity to overthink occasions like this one.
This is Guardiola’s first Champions League final in ten years and he’s facing a manager who not only dumped his team out the FA Cup this season but who, only three weeks ago, beat them in the Premier League.
Guardiola has previously shown a weakness when it comes to second-guessing his opponents on big European nights and getting his team selection and approach all wrong with formation changes, head-scratching selection decisions and focusing too much on what the opposition can do rather than what his team are capable of.
The good news for City fans is that, so far this season, their manager has been able to resist the temptation to over complicate things. They’re unbeaten in the competition, strolled through the knock-out stage and it’s hard to see Guardiola suddenly succumb to mistakes of the past.
Everything points to a historic first Champions League success for the blue side of Manchester on Saturday evening, they just shouldn't be too surprised when no-one else really cares.
It's the big one. The season has come down to just this, 90 minutes to decide who will be the crowned the best side in Europe.
In the blue corner, weighing in with a net worth of $19.3 billion we have the big oil oligarch, the prowling primary owner of private investment company Millhouse LLC, the ragin’ Russian…. Roman Abramovich.
It’s the other blue corner weighing in with a net worth of $22 billion, it’s the Eminent Emirati, the City Football Group supremo, your friend and mine… Sheikh Mansour.
So who to cheer on when you’ve got the plaything of a Russian billionaire who made his fortune during the murky break-up of the Soviet Union against a club that’s been described as "brazen attempts to sportswash a country’s deeply tarnished image" by Amnesty International?
It’s a tough question for anyone who’s not a supporter of Chelsea or Manchester City.
Indeed for those who aren’t fans of either club, you could be forgiven for forgetting that the Champions League final takes place this Saturday, such is the lack of hype or possibly even interest outside of the involved clubs.
Much of the drama and entertainment around the build-up to a big sports event comes from the narrative that surrounds the match, the ability to tell a story to hook those that have no skin in the game already.
In the past two weeks alone we’ve seen a Spanish team from a town of 50,000 lift their first ever piece of silverware by overcoming one of the true giants of European football. We’ve seen the side that wrote the biggest Cinderella story in sport just a few years ago lift the FA Cup for the first time in their history.
In the mind of many neutrals at least, the Europa League final has already arguably overshadowed the Champions League and it’s easy to see why.
On Saturday we’ll be treated to two of the most financially powerful teams in any sport, two of the teams that tried to lead a breakaway closed shop of European football compete for the trophy they not only belittled but tried to relegate to a second-tier competition.
There’s no romance to be found here and perhaps that's why the build-up to the final of the biggest competition in club soccer has been so muted.
It’s a showpiece that’s lacking any kind of underdog story to hook the neutrals, with no brave tales of redemption to be told. Neither side are going to get their comeuppance for their part in the failed European Super League coup, it’s Shooter McGavin versus Biff Tannen and one of them has to win.
The stakes aren’t there either and there’s no real sense of jeopardy for either side.
Sure Chelsea might lose, Abramovich could get an itchy trigger-finger and get ride of Thomas Tuchel. But as the London side have shown down through the years, it doesn’t really matter who manages them, they’ll still find a way to bring in the brightest young players in Europe, loan out half of them, and will be back challenging for top honours next year.
Likewise with Manchester City. The Champions League is the one piece of silverware that has eluded Pep Guardiola during his time at the Etihad and he’s clearly desperate to add to the two trophies he won as Barcelona manager but nothing’s going to change if he somehow doesn’t get his hands on it.
City will be back at the top of the Premier League, Guardiola will get the money to sign whoever he wants and will be getting chippy with anyone who dares to suggest that maybe having the cash to outspend other clubs might just play a role in his side’s success.
With that said, it’s a game that has the potential to be an entertaining game of football at least, with the classic contrast in styles between Guardiola’s evolved form of possession based tiki-taka up against the defence-first solidity of Tuchel’s Chelsea.
City are the favourites going into the game and the form team as Chelsea ended their domestic campaign on a downward note, limping into the top four with London rivals Tottenham saving their bacon on the final day with victory over Leicester.
Tuchel’s biggest problem has been his side’s prolificacy in front of goal. They’ve been creating all the chances they’ve needed to win games as the disciples of xG will no doubt tell you but they’ve been unable to take their chances with Timo Werner desperately struggling for goals as Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud kick their heels on the bench.
For City the biggest obstacle to their success may well be their manager’s propensity to overthink occasions like this one.
This is Guardiola’s first Champions League final in ten years and he’s facing a manager who not only dumped his team out the FA Cup this season but who, only three weeks ago, beat them in the Premier League.
Guardiola has previously shown a weakness when it comes to second-guessing his opponents on big European nights and getting his team selection and approach all wrong with formation changes, head-scratching selection decisions and focusing too much on what the opposition can do rather than what his team are capable of.
The good news for City fans is that, so far this season, their manager has been able to resist the temptation to over complicate things. They’re unbeaten in the competition, strolled through the knock-out stage and it’s hard to see Guardiola suddenly succumb to mistakes of the past.
Everything points to a historic first Champions League success for the blue side of Manchester on Saturday evening, they just shouldn't be too surprised when no-one else really cares.
Formations don’t matter when they’re taken out by a 747.
Same thoughts here ... I hope Chelsea wins so that Pep and City keep suffering
Fingers crossed.
Surprisingly open match so far.
He is giving defending from the front a whole new meaning - defending for the opposition.
Werner ffs.
Keeps going. Keeps screwing up.
Keeps going. Keeps screwing up.
Why are people watching it? It’s like watching your bird take two mammoth dicks or three mammoth dicks. Either way you’ll end up angry and full of resentment. Just pretend it isn’t happening.
Want to see the asteroid.
Great run and pass. Ederson aggressive but left in the lurch.
The job is half done...
Shame City will turn it around to win. If Werner weren't a bag of dicks they could be out of sight.
Chelsea are creating more chances, but City look more like if the get a chance they will take it
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