CHELSEA winning the Champions League this year for a second time was written in the stars the moment the schedule of the tournament was announced.
Here is why?
The date May 29 has great significance to Chelsea Football Club. It was on this date back in 1905 that the club was first admitted to the Football League, in Division 2. It was also on this same date in 2019, Chelsea beat Arsenal to win the Europa League. And this year, it was again on the same date that saw The Blues emerge triumphant against the much-vaunted Manchester City side, who were the favourites amongst many pundits and commentators.
When Chelsea won, pundits and commentators again collectively agreed that City’s manager Pep Guardiola had got his tactics wrong when he excluded midfield strongmen Fernandinho and Rodri from the starting line-up. But they failed to give credit to Chelsea’s head coach Thomas Tuchel, whose tactical acumen came out tops for the third time against Guardiola in less than six months.
However, did the pundits and commentators realise that City had started with the duo in the FA Cup encounter and lost while in their League match, Rodri started for City but still fell to The Blues. Full credit should be given to the Chelsea defence who played the perfect game, which saw Chelsea’s goalkeeper Edouard Mendy having an easy game with no serious threat from the City attackers.
The fact remains that Guardiola knows best. He had worked with the team in preparation for the final and took a different approach after surely working on it at training. Guardiola is a proven winner, both as a player and manager, and surely would not have gone into the game with a defeatist attitude.
Chelsea, in fact should have won by a comfortable margin had the misfiring Timo Werner taken his chances early in the game. The German had three great opportunities – miscuing one, hitting straight at the keeper with another while the third attempt hit the side netting. Christian Pulisic was also guilty in the second half of fluffing a clear goal scoring opportunity.
It must be stated that there was some measure of good fortune in the manner Kai Havertz scored the all important goal in the match. He did look to have overhit when he tried to round the City goalkeeper but a slight touch from Ederson placed it perfectly at his feet to find the net.
Players such as Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen were outstanding, in what was surely the match of their lives - so far.
However, full credit must be given to one player, N’Golo Kante, who was the equivalent of Chelsea having an extra man on the pitch. The diminutive player was so irrepressible that he was covering every inch of the pitch and negated the threat from the City players.
His record in the game were impressive. The French midfielder won all his tackles, did not commit a single foul, made timely interventions, and shut Riyad Mahrez out completely in the match. He proved was instrumental in stopping City’s midfield and holding the ball while waiting for his teammates to get into position when attacking.
Kante’s fitness level is unbelievable. He is never short of it and I did read a comment not long ago stating, in jest, that the Frenchman would probably have to run for another 90 minutes after a game just to wind down. With the energy shown in every match, this certainly not surprising.
Kante has won many trophies since joining Leicester City from Caen and then moving to Chelsea for a measly 32 million pounds (RM190 million). Only debuting in 2014, Kante has gone on to win the Premier League title twice (with Leicester City in 2016 and Chelsea in 2017), the Europa League and the 2018 World Cup with France.
What is missing now from Kante’s trophy cabinet is the Ballon d’Or. The Man of the Match in both legs against Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League and then the final must surely be recognised by the power brokers of world football. The normal favourites Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are simply not in the mix for the Ballon d’Or.
The only player that I can think of stopping Kante winning the award is Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski who broke Gerd Muller’s record of 40 goals in a single season in the Bundesliga. But surely Kante’s record in the Champions League should weigh greater when the final choice is made. It would be a real travesty if Kante is not accorded that honour by his peers in the world of football.
Kante’s next assignment is the Euro 2020, which begins this Friday and one can be certain that France will be hoping for Kante to continue his fine form in the Euros and help them win it after losing the final to Portugal in 2016.
Exhaustion does not exist in Kante’s dictionary and it will not be a surprise to see France winning the Euros due to the effort of one player – N’Golo Kante. – The Vibes. June 7, 2021
