Thomas Tuchel’s side have deservedly reached the final with goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount. Chelsea beat Real Madrid 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the semi-final second leg to set up an all-English Champions League final with Manchester City.
Chelsea reached their first UEFA Champions League final since 2012 with a comfortable 3-1 aggregate success against Real Madrid. For the eighth time, the Champions Cup/Champions League final will feature two teams from the same country. Also, the final will be an all-English affair for the third time after 2007-08 (Chelsea-Manchester United) and 2018-19 (Liverpool-Tottenham).
A high-tempo opening produced few chances and the tie did not take a decisive turn until midway through the first half. Edouard Mendy made a full-length save to thwart Karim Benzema. Shortly after, Timo Werner put Chelsea ahead nodding into the empty net after Kai Havertz’s clipped finish cannoned off the bar.
Havertz rattled the woodwork again soon after half-time and Mason Mount fired over as the hosts continued to create but spurn clear chances. Thibaut Courtois kept Madrid alive with one-on-one saves from Havertz and N’Golo Kanté. However, his resistance was finally ended when substitute Christian Pulišić crossed for Mount to tap in a late goal with five minutes left.
Chelsea will now play City in their third Champions League final (2008 and 2012) in Istanbul on Saturday May 29.
Tuchel feels good about playing the Cityzens
Thomas Tuchel says Manchester City are the “benchmark”, after his side secured a famous win over Real Madrid. The final at the end of the month will be the fourth time Chelsea and City will have met this season.
“This is really huge so I’m absolutely delighted with this spirit and big credit to this team.
“I will say it always, for me Bayern Munich with Manchester City are the benchmark and we wanted to close the gap to Manchester City.”
Tuchel
Chelsea ended Guardiola’s hopes of a quadruple by winning 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final on 17 April. Tuchel said April’s FA Cup semi-final win over Pep Guardiola’s side doesn’t give them an upper hand, it does make them confident of a repeat performance.
“No [it doesn’t give us] the upper hand, but it gives us a good feeling, it gives us confidence. We played the semi on the edge. They are the benchmark and we wanted to close the gap to Man City. We will need the same level of performance again. It gave us belief, because it is the highest level you can face.
“We will arrive with self-confidence and the positive energy in Istanbul, and we will arrive in Istanbul to win, not to be one of the participants. We arrive with a clear focus to win.”
Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea’s Manager
Key Stats
Chelsea have not lost a home match in which they scored the first goal in this competition since their 3-1 defeat by Atlético in the 2014 semi-finals. Thomas Tuchel (W2 D4) is the only manager to face Real Madrid six times in the competition without suffering a defeat. Chelsea have kept 18 clean sheets in 24 matches under Thomas Tuchel in all competitions. Mount becomes the first English goalscorer in the semi-finals since Wayne Rooney for Manchester United against Schalke just over ten years ago (26 April 2011).
Chelsea become the sixth club to score 300 goals in the UEFA Champions League (group stage to final) after Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Manchester United and Juventus. Madrid have scored in 24 of their last 26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase matches. Both blanks came against English clubs – Liverpool and Chelsea.
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