Manchester City vs Chelsea: Eight Facts You Need To Know Ahead Of The Final.

Manchester City and Chelsea are ready to go head to head later today in the Champions League final.

Pep Guardiola\’s side are looking for their first-ever Champions League trophy, while Thomas Tuchel, who lost last season\’s final with Paris Saint-Germain, won\’t want to let this opportunity pass him by again.

Here are eight interesting facts that you need to know ahead of the final in Porto.

1. Recent history favours Chelsea
Chelsea have won both of their matches against Manchester City since Thomas Tuchel took over at Stamford Bridge. The last time they won three in a row against City was between 2005 and 2009, when they won eight consecutive games.

2. Final debutants usually lose
Manchester City are the ninth different English side to reach a European Cup/Champions League final, which is at least three more than any other country (Germany and Italy have 6). However, only one of the last 10 teams to make their first appearance in the final have won, with Borussia Dortmund beating Juventus 3-1 in 1997. The last English side to win their first final was Aston Villa, who defeated Bayern Munich in 1982.

3. Two solid defences
Both Chelsea and Manchester City have only conceded four goals in this season\’s Champions League. This is the first time that both finalists have conceded four goals or less on their way to the final since the 2005/06 season, when Arsenal had conceded two and Barcelona four before they met each other in Paris.

4. City attempting to equal Real Madrid\’s record
Guardiola\’s side have won 11 matches in the Champions League this season and are just one victory away from equalling Real Madrid\’s record of 12 wins in 2001/02. The Spanish side did play 17 matches that campaign, compared to the 13 City have played this year.

5. Guardiola one off Ancelotti and Zidane
The Manchester City coach is looking for his third Champions League trophy after winning it in 2009 and 2011 with Barcelona. He would become the third coach to win the trophy on three occasions after Carlo Ancelotti (2003, 2007, 2014) and Zinedine Zidane (2016, 2017, 2018).

6. The longest time between two finals
Fifty-one years have passed since Manchester City last played in a European final, when they beat Gornik Zabrze in the Cup Winners\’ Cup final in 1970. This will break the record time between European finals which was held by Sporting CP, who waited 41 years between the 1964 Cup Winners\’ Cup final and the 2005 UEFA Cup final.

7. European history between the two
The only occasions both sides have met in European competition previously was in 1970/71, when they disputed the semi-final of the Cup Winners\’ Cup. Chelsea won both legs 1-0 to progress to the final, where they defeated Real Madrid.

8. Third consecutive debutant in a final
This is the third year in a row in which a side will play in the Champions League final for the first time. Tottenham Hotspur did so in 2019, Paris Saint-Germain in 2020 and Manchester City in 2021. This is the first time that three consecutive finals have seen debutants since 1986-1988 (Steaua Bucharest, Porto and PSV Eindhoven).

What\’s your score prediction for today\’s final?