London (AFP)
A 100% English final, like in 2019?
After Manchester City, executioner of Paris SG on Tuesday (2-0), the Champions League will know the other finalist on Wednesday: either the Londoners of Chelsea, for a new "so British" poster, or the Real Madrid of Zinédine Zidane (9:00 p.m. ).
There is one ticket left for the Istanbul final on May 29.
And, Brexit or no Brexit, the European spring could have an English accent this season, like two years ago when Liverpool defeated Tottenham (2-0) in the final in Madrid.
Half the way has been done by Manchester City, who clinched their very first Champions League final on Tuesday night.
This rewards the efforts of its Emirati owners who bought the club in 2008 and have invested heavily to make it a stronghold of world football.
Guided by the brilliant Catalan coach Pep Guardiola, already double European champion on the Barcelona bench (2009, 2011), the Citizens defeated Neymar's PSG, deprived on Tuesday of his friend Kylian Mbappé, injured: the Parisian club, finalist in 2020 and impressive in the previous rounds, was too feverish in this double confrontation, sealed by three goals from Riyad Mahrez (2-1, 2-0).
So much the worse for the dreams of the second consecutive final of the Parisians, whose Qatari owners aim to lift the "Cup with big ears" since their arrival in 2011.
- UEFA snub -
And too bad for the image of European football if City, which had briefly taken part in mid-April in the project of a dissident European Super League supposed to bury the Champions League, is finally qualified for the final of the venerable event created in 1955.
Moreover, an additional snub to UEFA, the other semi-final also opposes two other of the twelve mutinous clubs of the Super League!
Between Chelsea and Real Madrid, the stakes are tempting on Wednesday: the trip to Istanbul makes both Zinédine Zidane salivate, in search of a fourth final in five appearances on the bench of Real, and Thomas Tuchel, who is aiming with Chelsea a second consecutive final after the one reached and lost last August with PSG against Bayern Munich (1-0).
For the two technicians, back to back on the first leg in Madrid (1-1), a qualification would be a resounding revenge.
Zidane, so contested in the fall by the Madrid press, has straightened his team and can aim for a fourth European coronation on the Merengue bench, after his incredible successful hat-trick between 2016 and 2018.
"We do not play a semi-final of the Champions League every day", summed up the Frenchman, who knows something about it having won the event as a Real player (2002), as an assistant coach (2014) and as senior technician.
- "ZZ" never beat "TT" -
Is he able to lead this new continental epic to the "Decimocuarta", the 14th C1 in the history of Real?
The figures encourage him to trust him: in 15 qualifying confrontations in the final phase of the Champions League, "ZZ" has only been eliminated once, in the round of 16 in 2020 against ... Manchester City.
And Karim Benzema, spearhead of the Madrid attack, is having a good season (28 goals).
Even if "ZZ" will have to rebuild its defense, deprived of Raphaël Varane (thigh), it nevertheless recovers its captain and locker room leader Sergio Ramos.
But beware, because in front of him stands Thomas Tuchel, whom Zidane has never beaten in five confrontations on the sidelines (4 draws, 1 loss).
And for "TT" too, a new final would be a nice revenge, five months after his surprise ousting from PSG.
His rebound was spectacular at Chelsea: at the end of January he took over a team on the downward slope after the ouster of Frank Lampard, to make it an almost impregnable fortress and a serious candidate for the Champions League.
So much so that an English final seems possible again.
Even a 100% British European square if, as in 2019 also, the final of the Europa League, "small" European Cup, is trusted by two other English clubs.
Manchester United and Arsenal are currently semi-finalists, respectively against AS Roma (6-2 first leg) and Villarreal (1-2), and the return matches are scheduled for Thursday.
© 2021 AFP