Pep Guardiola will take Manchester City into their first Champions League final feeling confident of success in the competition, 10 years on from his last triumph with Barcelona.
The Catalan had experienced years of pain with semi-final defeats with the LaLiga giants and then Bayern Munich, but with Man City he is into a European final for a third time.
There were questions over whether Guardiola could both oversee a transition and guarantee success at the Etihad Stadium following the departures of Vincent Kompany, David Silva and now Sergio Aguero.
But the 50-year-old deserves credit for his work in transforming City into a superpower and the only confirmation left is a trophy to highlight their new status in European football, with only Chelsea standing in their way.
The problem for Guardiola is that on both occasions when he has faced Thomas Tuchel this season, the German has enjoyed a superior record with an FA Cup semi-final victory at Wembley preceding the 2-1 win at the Etihad weeks later.
Guardiola has a tendency to spring a tactical surprise in an attempt to get the better of his opponent in matches of this magnitude, but City’s form suggests they may be best to stick with their tried and trusted setup.
With a star-studded squad filled with household names at his disposal, Guardiola faces something of a selection dilemma and some key decisions to make heading into Saturday’s final in Porto…
Aguero swansong
Sergio Aguero may be departing in the summer with a move to Barcelona all but confirmed by Guardiola on Sunday, but the 32-year-old showed he can still play an important for Man City before he goes.
The Argentine ended his Premier League career in typical fashion with two well taken goals in a 5-0 drubbing of Everton on the final day of the season. It has been a forgettable campaign for the striker, who has been plagued by injury and contracted coronavirus in December.
Gabriel Jesus is seen as the natural heir to Aguero as he prepares to leave on a free transfer, but the latter will be desperate to play some part in the final and leave on a high. It would be a fitting tribute if he notched the winner.
His record against Chelsea would give him a case to present to Guardiola, although the Catalan tactician may decide to operate with a false nine from the start as he has done in recent important matches.
Master over the apprentice
Another difficult choice for Guardiola lies ahead in choosing between his trusted lieutenant Fernandinho, who at 36 is showing no signs of decline, or Rodri, the £60m signing brought in to replace him.
Fernandinho may be the safer option and, with his wealth of experience at both club and international level, there may be no player in the world a manager would want protecting the back four.
But if N’Golo Kante recovers in time, his energy may be difficult for Fernandinho to compete with.
Deploying Rodri in the centre of the park would give City a physical edge over Chelsea, who no longer boast a midfield general to add steel to the side in that area of the pitch.
In cagey games the midfield battle is often the difference and it’s a decision Guardiola must nail if he is to lead his side to glory in Portugal.
Laporte or Stones?
Once upon a time, Man City would have killed to have one world-class centre-back. Now they have three, which doesn’t fit into Guardiola’s favoured 4-3-3 setup.
Barring a late injury in preparing for the final, Ruben Dias will be starting and it’s a case of choosing his defensive partner.
John Stones has enjoyed a fine season after falling down the pecking order, but Aymeric Laporte will have something to say as a left-sided central defender.
In truth, Guardiola has difficult decisions to make all over the pitch with each position covered by two able deputies.
But the feeling is that one of Stones or Laporte will be left disappointed ahead of arguably the biggest game of their careers — and that’s not an easy conversation to have.
