Having romped to a third Premier League title in four seasons and a fourth consecutive League Cup triumph, City looks to be crowned Champions of Europe for the first time in its history.
Few, if any, would have thought such achievements would have been possible until the club was taken over by the Abu Dhabi royal family 13 years ago and transformed into one of European soccer’s heavyweights.
Chelsea has also benefited from the financial largesse of its owner and it’s no coincidence the club’s three Champions League final appearances have all come in the Roman Abramovich era.
City finished 21 points ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League this season, but lost twice to the Blues on the way. Chelsea defeated the Premier League champions 1-0 in the FA Cup semifinal and 2-1 away in the league.
Here’s all you need to know about Saturday.
When is the Champions League final?
European club soccer’s biggest game will take place on May 29. Kick off is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
Where is it taking place?
Portugal hosts the Champions League final for the second consecutive season, with the Estádio do Dragão in Porto the chosen venue.
The Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul was originally scheduled to stage the final, but UEFA moved the game to Porto after the U.K. government placed Turkey on its red list of coronavirus destinations.
How to watch the match in the U.S.
The Champions League final will air on CBS, with live streaming available via Paramount+.
The game will be broadcast in Spanish on Univision and TUDN Deportes, with a live stream available on TUDN.TV.
CBS, TUDN and Univision are all available on fuboTV.
Will fans be allowed to attend?
Fans will return to the Champions League final for the first time since 2019, but it won’t quite be a packed house just yet. The Portuguese authorities have decided to cap the attendance to 16,500 spectators, 33 percent of the venue’s capacity.
UEFA has allocated 6,000 tickets to each club, with a further 1,700 tickets available to the general public.
Manchester City’s Champions League record
Saturday will be City’s first appearance in the Champions League final, after falling at the quarterfinal stage for the last three seasons. Victory on Saturday would mark the culmination of the journey the club embarked upon when it was bought by the Abu Dhabi United group—an equity company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family—in 2008.
Bankrolled by lavish spending, City has been transformed into a Premier League juggernaut, winning the league three times in the last four years. Triumphing on Saturday would truly cement the club’s place in the top flight of European soccer.
Should City win the Champions League, Pep Guardiola would become only the fourth manager to lift European soccer’s most coveted prize three times. The Spaniard won the competition twice with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 and once as a player in 1992, also with the Spanish giants.
Chelsea’s Champions League record
Chelsea makes its third appearance in the Champions League final on Saturday with a Manchester-based club standing in its way for the second time.
The Blues’ first appearance was in the competition’s first all-English final in 2008 when they lost to Manchester United on penalties in Moscow after the game ended 1-1.
Four years later, spot kicks were the cause for celebrations for Chelsea instead, as it defeated Bayern Munich after the game had again ended 1-1 after extra time courtesy of Didier Drogba’s late equalizer.
Blues coach Thomas Tuchel returns to the Champions League final for the second consecutive season, after his Paris Saint-Germain side lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich last year.
Champions League final odds
City is a 4-9 favorite to lift the trophy, while Chelsea is 7-4. The Premier League champions are 10-11 favorite to win in 90 minutes with both William Hill and DraftKings, while Chelsea is a 7-2 and 10-3 outsider, respectively.
