• Direct Narration and statistics

It had taken Guardiola 10 years to return to the altar of the Champions League. Once in the place, he made a mess from which he could not get out. The extreme interventionism that has taken him where he is, distorted his team too much, wide open against the worst possible rival, because Chelsea exploits other people's spaces like no other. Thomas Tuchel didn't need any master moves. He simply delved into the lapses of the man he admires. The Champions League that he could not raise last year, in Lisbon, at the helm of PSG, rewards the executioner of all Spaniards, Guardiola among them.

In Porto, the Catalan coach made a very risky decision, because he had envisioned a match in which he wanted the City that could best represent him: offensive, dominating. The coach retired to his natural midfielder, Rodri, to leave the navel to Gündogan and Bernardo Silva, with Foden heeled and De Bruyne ahead, as a false nine. The reality is that Foden has the soul of a forward, and the soul can, especially in such young footballers. The City, then, was drawn in a 4-2-4 that multiplied the offensive options, but left wide spaces in case of theft or losses. Chelsea found them from the beginning, a fact that ended up creating a lot of insecurity in a defense that had grown this season, especially due to the incorporation of Ruben Dias.

Timo Werner was the first, twice, to find the opportunities, but the German, despite his depth, has not found this course the precision of the definition. If he did, his harvest would have been greater. Each arrival opened the channel to a City unguarded by the media. Gündogan does not have a defensive profile and Bernardo Silva, although he multiplied his efforts, did not reach everywhere. Neither Rodri nor Fernandinho, the specialists, were on the pitch. Chelsea's goal, shortly before the break, was the metaphor for citizen's tactical confusion. Mount saw the moor open and launched Havertz into the space between midfielder and centrals. Neither one nor the other. There was no one. The German controlled, saved the exit of Ederson and consumed the goal. Chelsea, more natural and faithful to what it has been since the arrival of Tuchel,found the well-deserved award.

The system that opened the channel to City also did not help him to overcome the offensive flow of Chelsea. He had possession, but was sterile. The danger, when he took it to Mendy's area, was on the counterattack. Sterling gained the advantage on a shot from his goalkeeper and Rüdiger was in time to avoid Foden's goal. Those from London jumped onto the pitch without surprises, with their three centrals, including the Spanish captain Azpilicueta. One of them, Thiago Silva, had to leave the field prematurely due to injury. Later it would be De Bruyne, for City, as a result of a very hard blow. He left in tears. The substitute, Gabriel Jesus. Next, Guardiola called Fernandinho. In minutes, he recovered a natural nine and a pivot to return the usual appearance to his team. What was coming, however, was already pure debauchery,which a specialist resisted in doing so.

The scoreboard accentuated the dominance of City, planted in Chelsea territory, which Tuchel sharpened for the counter with the departure of Pulisic.

He had on his feet the goal that would have been the final sentence, after a run from Havertz.

A clearer chance than any of those that City had, except for Walker's final shot, and to which Azpilicueta closed the goal door in the cut of a center that reached Mahrez.

The Algerian was not on his level.

Agüero, replacing Sterling, one of the eleven's surprises, was the desperate letter in his last game with City.

It did not work for Guardiola, like nothing he did in Porto, a place where he never played in the way he had envisioned, nor like 10 years ago, when he raised two Champions League titles with Barça.

As time goes by.

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