Chelsea v Man City: Which club has built back better since Champions League final?

There’s something strange happening between Manchester City and Chelsea.

In recent years, City has been a mostly serene, controlled environment with a sensible and strategic methodology while Chelsea could be categorised as occasionally brilliant but pressurised with coaches regularly removed and reshuffled.

Those two roles seem to have almost flipped since Thomas Tuchel masterminded a Champions League victory over City back in May with the after-effects rippling into the start of this campaign.

While Pep Guardiola is not close to being axed, it has been an unusual start to the campaign - falling out with the fans, struggling to beat mid-table opponents and missing out on top transfer targets - and Chelsea are smoothly running through the gears as they aim to land their first Premier League title in five years.

The two sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and, while its importance to the title race could be easily overstated, a win for either side could lay down a significant marker for the rest of the season.

Tuchel may have been complicit in starting Guardiola’s unease when he beat him three times in six weeks at the end of last season.

A defeat in the FA Cup semi-final ended the chase for a first-ever quadruple and a Premier League victory at the Etihad Stadium suitably discomfited the City boss to such an extent that he made a drastic tactical change for the Champions League final in Porto.

Guardiola went without Rodri or Fernandinho as a holding midfielder for only the second time all season; Chelsea dominated the match and City’s wait for the biggest European trophy continues.

Getty Images

Despite that, City were still the best side in England over the whole of last season and what was required in the summer was nothing more extreme than a couple of quality signings with deficiencies easy to identify.

They had won the league without an orthodox striker with the club’s legendary forward Sergio Aguero missing for the majority of the season through injury and due to Covid-19 regulations.

The total of Premier League goals had dropped to its lowest since Guardiola’s first season at the club and in the two defeats to Chelsea, they had failed to score.

Signing a striker was a priority but the summer-long chase for Tottenham’s Harry Kane and late flirtation with Cristiano Ronaldo came to nothing and Guardiola has been left with even fewer options than last season.

While City refuse to panic buy and are prepared to walk away from deals that they think are too expensive, failing to bring in a striker is a major blow.

They have neglected to fill important roles in the past - most notably when there was no replacement for former captain Vincent Kompany when he left the club in 2019 and they paid the price with defensive lapses costing them a shot at the title.

It’s too early to say how significant missing out on a centre forward will be. Guardiola, as one of the most astute coaches in world football, is able to move his squad around and is attempting to turn Ferran Torres into a striker.

But so far it’s been feast or famine. Blanks against Leicester in the Community Shield, Tottenham and Southampton suggesting they desperately miss a goalscorer but six goals against RB Leipzig and five against Norwich City and Arsenal showing they can cope without one.

Chelsea, meanwhile, were quick to resolve their issues by bringing in Romelu Lukaku, who almost guarantees goals.

Getty Images

German international Timo Werner had been given a season to sort out his scoring issues before the problem was taken out of his hands with a £98 million ($136m) deal for the Belgium international.

At 28, Lukaku has now matured into an intelligent, deadly striker with great movement and a calm finish. After helping Inter to their first Serve A title in more than a decade, he returned to Stamford Bridge happy to take on the responsibility of spearheading Chelsea’s own challenge.

He has settled in comfortably, with four goals in his first six games as Tuchel’s side have made an unflustered start to the campaign, dropping points only at Liverpool.

How City would love to have a similar standard of striker settling in. But it’s not just in that position where Chelsea added extra cover.

Tuchel wanted to strengthen his midfield options and moved smartly to bring in Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez and while they missed out Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, the German can be happy with their transfer business and to have been given a squad capable of taking on the best in England and Europe.

City, meanwhile, had other areas where they failed to strengthen, most glaringly at left-back which was a problem position before Benjamin Mendy became unavailable.

Guardiola was at least happy with the £100m ($138m) signing of England forward Jack Grealish , even if some might have thought it was a position they didn’t need to strengthen.

He insists that he is happy with the squad and can compete for all the big trophies. But Chelsea were able to get their top targets and, with Tuchel in the hotseat, the two clubs have never been closer in terms of quality on the pitch and in the dugouts.