Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson has dismissed the bookmakers’ conclusion that Pep Guardiola side are the favourites to win the Champions League trophy.
Chelsea and the Premier League winners are billed to lock horns in the final of the competition in Porto.
Ederson said ahead of the final: “I don’t think there is one favourite. In just one game, it’s 50/50.
“Both teams are very capable of winning it. I think is going to be a very tough game. Chelsea are a great team, very well managed and with fantastic players.
“I think is going to be a very competitive game and I hope it’s a great game to watch for the fans.
“I think Frank Lampard started their process and Thomas Tuchel continued it. Obviously, they have improved a lot since Tuchel took over.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola claims that facing moments of adversity in the Champions League knockout stages will have helped his team prepare mentally for Saturday’s final showdown with Chelsea.
Speaking ahead of the big match in Porto, Pep Guardiola stated that moments in which the players suffered against Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter and semi-finals were good experiences for the squad.
“Yeah absolutely, but it’s a final and it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen tomorrow. We suffered in the first-half against PSG and Dortmund. But we stuck together,” Guardiola said.
The boss was also quick to point out just how evenly matched his squad is with Thomas Tuchel’s resurgent Chelsea side. In Guardiola’s opinion, no one team will have a clear upper hand in Porto.
“Tomorrow we will not have 90 minutes one side dominate, we are going to suffer but when we get momentum we will have to use it,” Guardiola said.
“I’m the happiest man in the world to be here. It is a privilege. We will try our best and a good advertisement for football.”
Interestingly, Manchester City and Chelsea have faced off twice in recent months, with Chelsea coming out on top on both occasions.
Manchester City defenders Kyle Walker and John Stones are looking forward to a very tough encounter against their Premier League rivals Chelsea as the two clubs slug it out in Porto in the Champions League final.
The two players are set to feature in European club football’s showpiece match for the first time, with Walker saying that tonight’s encounter will be a chess game.
The sides have faced each other three times already in 2021, with Chelsea winning two of those meetings in the last six weeks, and Walker thinks that makes for an intriguing encounter.
England international Walker said: “Knowing them and playing them as many times as we have played them, it’s going to be a little bit of a chess game.
“I think it comes down to big players in big moments and special moments, and hopefully we have enough of those players to go and grab those special moments.
“Chelsea are good opponents. They’ve had the upper hand on us a few times this season, so we do owe them one. It’s going to be a tough game that we need to come out on top (of).”
Walker is hoping to complete a set of medals having already won three Premier League titles, four League Cups and the FA Cup since joining City from Tottenham in 2017.
The 31-year-old said: “It’s the one trophy I’m missing. Since I’ve been here I’ve managed to pick up everything that I’ve been involved in bar the Champions League.
“I think it’s probably the pinnacle of club football. To play in a Champions League final is something that you dream about as a child.
“Just hearing that anthem and walking past the trophy is going to be a very, very special moment. I’ve never seen it so I’ll take a good look and, hopefully, I’ll be holding it come the end of the game.
“But I don’t want to sit here and sound cocky or anything like that. It’s going to be a really, really tough game.”
Fellow defender John Stones also admits he can barely contain himself as he prepares for the occasion.
The centre-back said: “I want the day to come fast. It’s just pure excitement. It is something that we have never experienced before and something so exciting for us and our families, and all the fans that are able to turn up now.
“It is something we really we want to go into in our best moment to try and make history for the club, make history as players and try to break this cycle of us not being there in the Champions League. Now we are and we have got that chance to win it.”
Stones has enjoyed a fine season having been rejuvenated playing alongside new signing Ruben Dias. He puts a lot of it down to the influence of manager Pep Guardiola and he now wants to repay the City boss.
The 27-year-old said: “What he has done for me and what he has taught me on the pitch has been something I hope I can only repay with my performances.
“For everyone in the club, what he has brought to Manchester City over these five years is incredible – the amount of trophies, the memories.
“He is important on and off the pitch and I am sure he is dying to get his hands on this one for sure.”
Kevin de Bruyne has admitted that Manchester City will ‘almost be failures’ if they lose the Champions League final to Chelsea.
The Belgian, 29, said: “As players, we understand the magnitude of the game.
“If you win, you’re a hero and if you lose, you’re almost a failure, even if you’re not a failure because getting to this stage is incredibly well done by the team and an individual.
“But if you don’t win, it will be something you don’t really want to experience.”
N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy have been passed fit, handing Chelsea a monumental boost ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against Manchester City.
Kante, 30, had been struggling with a hamstring injury in recent weeks and missed the visit to Villa Park last weekend.
In the penultimate game of the season against Aston Villa, summer signing Mendy collided with the post injuring his ribs just before half-time in an attempt to stop Bertrand Traore’s goal.
Mendy’s injury forced a change at half-time with Kepa emerging from the tunnel to take his place.
The pair returned to training just days before Saturday’s Champions League final, but it was unknown whether they would be passed fit to play.
Luckily for the Blues, it has been confirmed that both are fit and ready to take part in the final, just over nine years on from Chelsea’s only triumph in the competition against Bayern Munich.
Jose Mourinho is reportedly angling a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo at Roma after it was revealed that the gaffer called the Juventus star.
According to reports, Ronaldo is keen to leave the Old Lady this summer, with Mourinho wanting to know the Juventus forward’s intentions and suggest Roma as a solution to keep the tax advantages in Italy.
Ronaldo’s contract with Juventus expires in June 2022, but several reports in Italy claim the Portugal captain could leave Turin already this summer.
Massimiliano Allegri’s return to Juventus has not gone down well with the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
La Stampa reveals his compatriot and former Real Madrid coach Mourinho, who will take over at Roma ahead of 2021-22, called to greet the superstar and wanted to understand his intentions.
Roma would be a solution to save the advantages of the Italian tax rate for foreigners, but the newspaper underlines such a hypothesis would be complex for a thousand reasons.
The report claims Ronaldo seems more and more likely to leave Juve and that his agent, Jorge Mendes, has contacted Manchester United regarding a sensational return to Old Trafford.
He has also been linked with Real Madrid, but the current €31m-a-year salary scares everyone.
According to Sky Sports, no arrests were made but one fan was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The Blues and City will have nearly 6,000 supporters in the Estadio do Dragao for the game, which will take place in front of a total of 16,500 spectators.
Man City and Chelsea fans clashing in Porto last night…
