Chelsea Football club set up an all-English Champions League final with Manchester City after beating Real Madrid 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the semi-final second leg, going through 3-1 on aggregate.
The final of this year’s UEFA Champions League will take place in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday 29th May.
Timo Werner put Chelsea ahead (28), nodding into the empty net from under the crossbar after Kai Havertz’s chip had hit the woodwork, before Real rode their luck as the hosts missed four big chances to double their lead in the opening 20 minutes of the second period.
The hosts finally got their second to kill off the tie with five minutes remaining as Mason Mount stuck home substitute Christian Pulisic’s centre at close range, capping off a fine display and marking an extraordinary turnaround at the club since Thomas Tuchel joined in January.
Chelsea will now play in their third Champions League final (2008 and 2012) in Istanbul on Saturday May 29, and have set up just the third all-English Champions League final after 2008 (Man Utd-Chelsea) and 2019 (Liverpool-Tottenham) as Manchester City look to complete a treble.
Having also led PSG to the 2019/20 Champions League final, Chelsea manager Tuchel is the first manager to reach the European Cup/Champions League final in consecutive seasons with different clubs.
In 11 seasons as a first-team boss, Guardiola has lifted eight league titles, but the last of his two managerial UEFA Champions League winners’ medals came in 2011. Now he has his sights set on becoming just the sixth coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs.
The final at the end of the month will be the fourth time Chelsea and City will have met this season.
While City won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League before Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard, Chelsea ended Guardiola’s hopes of a quadruple by winning 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final on 17 April.
The venue, Ataturk Olympic Stadium famously staged the 2005 Champions League showdown, when Liverpool came from 3-0 down at half-time to beat AC Milan on penalties.
UEFA has not yet confirmed the kick-off time, but says detailed information regarding the capacity for the match, travel and ticketing details will be communicated publicly by the end of the week.
Do you have a story or an opinion to share? Email us on: [email protected] Or join the Daily Express WhatsApp channel for all the latest news and trends or join the Telegram Channel for the latest updates.
