Manchester City came up short in the Champions League final, losing 1-0 to Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Pep Guardiola’s men have had trouble with Thomas Tuchel’s side of late, and so it proved again as Kai Havertz bagged a first-half winner.
City just couldn’t get back into the game, and with Kevin De Bruyne substituted in the second half, all creativity faded away.
Guardiola must reflect on a huge missed opportunity, and he may well be wondering whether he picked the right team.
His midfield three in Porto last night was Ilkay Gundogan as the deepest midfielder, with Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva relied on going forward.
That didn’t quite work, and Chelsea managed to cut through City’s midfield without a true holding player to protect the back four.
Rodri and Fernandinho were both left on the bench, much to the bemusement of City fans – and one stat summed up the confusion.
As noted by talkSPORT, at least one of Rodri or Fernandinho had started in 59 of the previous 60 City games this season before last night’s defeat.
It’s quite remarkable that Pep then decided to leave both players out, and it backfired as Chelsea cut through to win the Champions League.
