Half-time in the Champions League final: A good game, but not in the way we expected

Half-time in the Champions League final: a good game, but not in the way we expected.

As many predicted after seeing the Manchester City and Chelsea starting line-ups, the Champions League final has been an entertaining game so far.

But while it’s been an infinitely better spectacle than the previous all-British finals in 2008 and 2019 , the reasons why it’s been good to watch have been far less expected.

As soon as news broke that neither Fernandinho nor Rodri were in Man City’s line-up – after at least one of them had started in all bar two of City’s previous games this season – it seemed that we had an attacking game ahead of us.

That’s turned out to be true.

Chelsea have been the better side

But what few foresaw is that Chelsea have had the better of things in the opening 45 minutes and go in at half-time deservedly in the lead.

https://twitter.com/UCLonCBSSports/status/1398727799872004102

After the pleasure at hearing big noise at a major European soccer game again had sunk in, it became clear that Chelsea were the better side over the opening 20 or so minutes.

They defended with more rigor and attacked with greater penetration.

Timo Werner was again wasteful, failing to even connect with the ball at all after being presented with a good chance early on and then missing an even better opening by tamely hitting the ball almost directly at City keeper Ederson.

That isn’t to say that City didn’t pose a danger, though.

Rahim Sterling was put though on goal by exquisite pass from Ederson even before Chelsea’s dominance began to be imposed, only for Ben Chilwell to save the day.

Kevin De Bruyne presented then Phil Foden with a good opening only for Antonio Ruediger to intervene.

https://twitter.com/UCLonCBSSports/status/1398723794479452160

While both goalkeepers had relatively quiet opening half-hours, that was a result of the teams failing to capitalize on their opportunities.

Though City came back into the game after 25 minutes, a break in play ten minutes later still saw Guardiola giving instructions to his players even more manically than usual. That was a sign of how the game had gone.

Chelsea’s record signing Kai Havertz capitalized on his team’s superiority after 42 minutes by scoring following an exquisite through ball from Mason Mount.

City keeper Ederson looked to have touched the ball with his hand outside the penalty area in his efforts to stop Havertz, which means he would have faced a red card had Havertz not proceeded to score.

Chelsea lost Thiago Silva to a groin injury before half-time. He was replaced by Andreas Christensen, whom some had tipped to start.

Guardiola opted to make no changes at the break, but he’ll surely change things soon if the score-line remain the same.