London (AFP)

With a performance full of confidence, Chelsea got the best (2-0) on a helpless Real Madrid on Wednesday, to join Manchester City in a 100% English Champions League final.

On May 29, in Istanbul, it will be the 8th final of C1 between clubs from the same country and the 3rd for English teams, after Manchester United's victory on penalties over Chelsea in 2008 and that of Liverpool. on Tottenham in 2019.

After the triumph of Pep Guardiola's men over Paris SG on Tuesday (2-1, 2-0), Chelsea was expected at the turn after a promising draw (1-1) and even nothing frustrating, because of the missed opportunities to the go.

Real owed especially to its French striker, Karim Benzema, author of the equalizer, to still have a reasonable chance of qualifying.

With the returns in the starting lineup of the warrior Sergio Ramos and the artist Eden Hazard, the latter having only played at the end of the match eight days ago, Zinédine Zidane had decided to give himself the best chances.

But the Londoners still quite clearly dominated the match which could have ended in 5-3, so the chances were clear on the English side.

- Kanté still immense -

Thomas Tuchel had opted for a solution which had given satisfaction in the championship last weekend, with Kai Havertz in the lead and Timo Werner shifted to the right.

The German duo also distinguished themselves by opening the scoring shortly before half an hour of play, on an action was part of a high-class gesture from N'Golo Kanté, still immense in this match.

The French midfielder achieved perfect oriented control, before relying on Werner, then shifting Havertz to his right.

The ball stung from the "false nine" bounced off the top of the bar but fell on Werner a few centimeters from the empty goal, and who only had to push it with his head (1-0, 28th) .

Kanté was also behind the second goal, capturing a "second ball" 30 meters from the opposing goal before serving Christian Pulisic.

The American, full of composure, delayed until he found the perfect back pass angle for Mason Mount who catapulted the ball to the bottom and made this dream come true in blue (2-0, 85th).

A nice revenge for the kid from the training center and who was considered the "darling" of Frank Lampard when he was in office, before proving under Thomas Tuchel and with the national team that he deserved each of his minutes of Game.

- Dress rehearsal on Saturday -

Real will regret the opportunities left along the way or rather saved by an Edouard Mendy who was still playing in Rennes at the start of the season but who will soon play the most prestigious club match in Europe.

The Senegalese was impeccable on long attempts by Toni Kroos (11th) or Luka Modric (17th) to warm up before flying superbly twice to deny Karim Benzema the goal of hope, on a shot in pivot at the entry of the surface (26th) and on a head which went straight under the bar (36th).

But that would be to forget that Chelsea also let many opportunities slip away, in particular a header from Havertz on the crossbar (47th) or the exploits of Thibaut Courtois in front of the same Havertz (59th) or Kanté (66th).

The final against City, the second in a row for Tuchel who arrived from Paris SG in the middle of the season, promises to be beautiful between two teams with sharp playing intelligence and impressive physical form at the end of the season.

There will also be a dress rehearsal on Saturday, City receiving Chelsea in the league, for a predictable game of liar poker, because no one will want to show their hand too early between the cunning Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel.

© 2021 AFP