Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel believes the recent wins over Manchester City will give his team plenty of confidence going into the Champions League final but the German is expecting a fresh challenge from Pep Guardiola and his players.
Chelsea claimed a dramatic 2-1 Premier League win at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as Marcos Alonso scored the winner in injury time. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the first half and the hosts had the chance to double their advantage just before the break, only for Sergio Aguero's Panenka-style penalty to be easily saved by Edouard Mendy.
Hakim Ziyech levelled for Chelsea in the second half before Alonso turned in Timo Werner's low cross in the dying stages. The win moved Chelsea up to third in the Premier League table while delaying City's title celebrations a little longer.
It was Chelsea's second victory over City in three weeks following last month's FA Cup semi-final win and the London club are unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions.
"It's best to have consecutive good performances that lead to results," said Tuchel. "The group and the players do everything to force the luck on our side, and we caught the momentum to have another big win.
"It increases our self-confidence in a natural and healthy way because everybody knows we have to restart on Wednesday (against Arsenal in the league)."
Tuchel will face Guardiola's side again later this month when they play the Champions League final on May 29. However, the two teams will be much different to the ones that lined up on Saturday. City made nine changes from their semi-final second leg win over Paris Saint-Germain, while Chelsea made five.
"The final is a very unique game and you cannot predict what will happen," Tuchel said. "You need to be well prepared, we will have some changes again, they will have some changes again, but we will arrive with the knowledge we are capable of beating City."
Arguably the biggest turning point in Saturday's match came when Aguero missed the penalty that would have given City a 2-0 lead going into halftime, and the Argentine has publicly apologised for his decision to chip the ball.
"I would like to apologise to my teammates, staff and supporters for missing the penalty," City's all-time top scorer Aguero tweeted. "It was a bad decision and I take full responsibility."
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Manchester City v Chelsea player ratings
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MANCHESTER CITY PLAYER RATINGS: Ederson – 6. Probably could have done better with Ziyech’s equaliser but not at fault for Alonso’s winner. Pulled off a couple of decent saves and commanded his area well. Getty Images -
Aymeric Laporte – 7. City are spoit to have the Frenchman as a third-choice centre-back. A calm and composed performance. PA -
Ruben Dias – 7. Handled Chelsea’s attacks for most of the match until the visitors started to create better chances towards the end. Oozes class. AP -
Nathan Ake – 8. Given a rare chance to impress – and impress he did. The Dutch defender was immense at the back, dealing comfortably with Pulisic and the attacks down his side while bringing the ball out of defence and distributing well. Getty Images -
Joao Cancelo – 6. Back in his preferred right wing-back role, the Portugal international was not quite at his best. There were a few attacking forays and he matched up well against Alonso, but his impact was generally limited. PA -
Benjamin Mendy – 4. Got quite simply dominated by Reece James in their wing-back battle. Attempted to provide support in attack, but defensively was outclassed by his Chelsea counterpart. EPA -
Rodri – 7. An intriguing battle up against Kante in midfield and the Spaniard certainly held his own. The lack of a recognised midfielder alongside him for much of the match hardly helped his cause though. PA -
Ferran Torres – 5. Had an early half chance which he blazed high and wide. That was about as good as it good for the Spaniard. Replaced by Gundogan in the second half. PA -
Raheem Sterling – 7. Perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch after an early studs-up challenge on Werner, so of course it was the England forward who went on to score the opener. Aside from the goal, though, Sterling struggled to threaten Chelsea for the rest of the match. Reuters -
Sergio Aguero – 4. A terrible touch that didn’t prove costly as Sterling ran on to the ball to fire home and had an absolute shocker with his Panenka penalty attempt. Considering his prolific record against Chelsea, it was a disappointing day for the Argentine. EPA -
Gabriel Jesus – 5. Offered very little threat and his attempts on goal failed to challenge Mendy. Marginally better than Aguero on the basis he didn’t scuff a penalty. PA -
SUBS: Phil Foden (70’) – 6. Brought on for Aguero but the prodigiously talented player was unable to affect the game in the way he so often has this season. Getty Images -
Ilkay Gundogan (71’) – 6. Replaced the ineffective Torres, but the German midfielder was not much better on the night. Reuters -
Oleksander Zinchenko (80’) – N/A. Better than Mendy but it didn’t take much. Reuters -
CHELSEA PLAYER RATINGS: Edouard Mendy – 7. No chance with Sterling’s goal and was alert to Aguero’s Panenka. Wasn’t really called into action much in the second half. Getty Images -
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7. The Chelsea captain was given a good test by Sterling and was up to the task. A model of consistency who used his experience to help his side to an important win. PA -
Andreas Christensen – 6. Barged off the ball a bit too easily by Jesus in the leadup to the opening goal and was taken off injured just before the break. Not a great game this time but Chelsea will hope he makes a swift recovery. AFP -
Antonio Rudiger – 8. Once again the pick the of the Chelsea centre-backs. The German easily dealt with the threat of Aguero and Jesus and led his backline well. Reuters -
Reece James – 8. The England full-back was superb. He spent the entire game producing marauding runs down the right, whipping in dangerous crosses, and supporting Chelsea's counters. Defensively he was sound, too. Surely has played his way into Tuchel’s thoughts for the Champions League final. PA -
Marcos Alonso – 7. Only made one real contribution in the game and it came with one of the last kicks. Alonso has a knack for popping up with important goals and his injury-time winner put City’s title celebrations on hold a little while longer. AFP -
Billy Gilmour – 6. Started brightly as the Scottish midfielder looked to get on the ball but gave away a needless penalty before the break. Fortunately for him, Aguero fluffed it. Carried on running even if his influence faded. Needs more games. EPA -
N’Golo Kante – 8. On the back of his brilliance against Real Madrid, the Frenchman was excellent yet again, excelling in what Tuchel calls the ‘double six’ – protecting his defenders and supporting the attackers. Given a well-earned rest when taken off in the 68th minute. Top class player. EPA -
Christian Pulisic 6 – Electric when he came on against Real Madrid but there was not the same spark at the Etihad. Came to life a bit more towards the end but overall, came out second best against Ake. EPA -
Hakim Ziyech – 7. Tested Ederson with a decent strike at the end of the first half and got on the scoresheet with a fine finish from the edge of the area. Still, for a player as immensely talented as the Moroccan, he should be dictating games a bit more. Easier said than done against City, though. EPA -
Timo Werner – 7. Felt like he spent more time offside than on, but once again came up with a vital contribution with the assist for the winner and his runs in behind kept stretching City’s defence. A good performance by the German. Getty Images -
Kurt Zouma (45’+3) – 7. Loves a last-ditch tackle does Zouma. His one at the Etihad was a masterpiece, although he might be considered lucky for not giving away a penalty for a clumsy looking challenge on Sterling. Getty Images -
Jorginho (68’) – 6. A fairly quiet game from the Italian as Chelsea surrendered most of the possession and played on the counter. Getty Images -
Callum Hudson-Odoi (76’) – N/A. Goal chalked off for offside and almost got his boot on the ball before Alonso lashed home. PA
