Thomas Tuchel loses his revenge against Pep Guardiola – and it is also a used day for Hansi Flick.
Hansi Flick chatted animatedly with Michael Ballack, who sat next to him, he joked and laughed with his assistant Danny Röhl. But the national coach couldn’t really like what he saw on his ground hopping tour in London.
Timo Werner: tried hard, but completely harmless. Antonio Rüdiger: rather unhappy. Kai Havertz: as a joker without much effect. And Ilkay Gündogan: not there at all due to an injury. Flick could not make out a German winner at the top game in the Premier League between Chelsea FC and Manchester City.
No wonder: Thomas Tuchel’s blues were defeated by the sky blues in the new edition of the Champions League final deserved 0: 1 (0: 0). In the fourth island comparison, Pep Guardiola had “finally outwitted” his ex-apprentice (Daily Mail) – and took revenge for the bitter bankruptcy on May 29th.
“This time,” said the Catalan, downright touched, “it was fantastic. We won the Champions League, that makes me proud.” After the final whistle, Tuchel gave him his hand in contrition, and in a brief embrace he mumbled: “Congratulations”.
The fact that he let Werner storm alongside Romelu Lukaku for the first time was “a spectacular failure,” she judged Sun. Not a single shot on goal, poor eleven ball contacts in the opposing penalty area – Chelsea, Tuchel admitted, was “simply not good enough”. Yes, he too had to question himself, but the line-up was “not decisive”.
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola sets club record
The fact that his team “never” reached its highest level, said the German coach, was more a question of “mentality”. And Guardiola’s ability to learn from mistakes. The critics of his line-up in the Champions League final, he admitted, were right. With Rodri in six, City had a lot more control this time around. The coach said he was inspired by the Ryder Cup and the solidarity of golfers.
Gabriel Jesus (53) rewarded a superior performance with the winning goal in the “Oil Firm Derby”, as scoffers call the duel between the oil-supported rich clubs. With 13 points from six games, City overtook Chelsea with the same number of points in second place, the gap to leaders Liverpool (3: 3 at Brentford) melted to one point.
Guardiola also celebrated competitive win number 221 with Manchester and replaced the previous record holder Les McDowall, although he has completed 227 fewer games. “It is unbelievable what these players have achieved,” he said with enthusiasm.
Next touchstone: Paris St. Germain in the premier class on Tuesday, Chelsea will play at Juventus Turin the next day. Flick then no longer watches – the national coach visits the games in Dortmund and Munich.
