Man City vs Chelsea: Who will win the Champions League final?

For only the third time in the competition's 66-year history, two English teams will contest the Champions League final.

Manchester City and Chelsea - the Premier League's two best sides on current form - will fight it out for the biggest trophy European club football has to offer.

While Man City are many people's favourite, Chelsea's recent win over the Premier League champions-elect suggested it is a far more even tie than it looks on paper.

So, who will win Man City vs Chelsea when the two face off on 29 May? 90min have broken it down.

Squads

Chelsea's squad has improved dramatically since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel in January. Kai Havertz and Timo Werner have recently come to life, Billy Gilmour has emerged as a promising squad option, and even Marcos Alonso has come in from the cold to offer cover for Ben Chilwell.

They're in a much, much stronger place than they were just a few months ago. But even still, City are...City.

Pep Guardiola's team rested a substantial amount of first-team players against Chelsea at the weekend but were still able to field Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Rodri, Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte.

Their bench for the same game read like a who's who of Premier League winners, with Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan - arguably their players of the season - coming on as substitutes. City's depth is out of this world, and there probably isn't a team on the planet who can rival it.

Winner: Man City

Head to head record

If you trace their competitive head-to-head back far enough, it's hard to split them. City and Chelsea have faced off 13 times since Guardiola took the reins at the Etihad, with Chelsea winning six of those.

Their last 20 meetings have been split straight down the middle with nine wins apiece and two draws.

Chelsea, however, have had the beating of City in recent weeks. They turned them over at the Etihad on Saturday thanks to Marcos Alonso's late strike, while they also sent Guardiola's team packing in the FA Cup semi-finals in April.

Winner: Chelsea

Form

Manchester City won the Premier League by a pretty comfortable points margin. Their imperious form might have been stunted a little with a handful of defeats to Chelsea, Leeds and Brighton, but they have still won 11 of their last 15 matches.

That run encompasses a pair of wins over PSG which made it 11 victories from 12 in this season's Champions League. That has never been done before by an English team.

Chelsea were in pretty good shape until recently too, but defeats to Arsenal, Aston Villa and Leicester City in a FA Cup final have taken a bit of the shine off what's been a remarkable few months in charge for Tuchel.

Winner: Man City

Managers

Yeah, it's got to be Guardiola, doesn't it? The guy has just won his tenth league title in 11 seasons of management.

Tuchel has done a stellar job since taking the reins at Chelsea, but his record of attainment and success falls some way short of Guardiola's. That makes two of us, Thomas.

Winner: Manchester City

Record in big games

Chelsea have been there and done it in the Champions League. Manchester City...haven't.

Until this season, City seemed utterly incapable of making it beyond the semi-finals. There was always something stopping them from taking the final step, so their win over PSG in the last round was a big relief.

But Chelsea are mercenaries for these occasions. They recently beat Man City to reach the FA Cup final (big game), cruised past Real Madrid to reach the final when the tie was on a knife-edge (big game), and have won seven of their last nine cup finals (all big games). Although they did lose their most recent one...

That said, generally they know how to get a big result, and if the Champions League finale comes down to a battle of wills, you'd find it hard to look past Chelsea.

Winner: Chelsea

Conclusion

It's a tough one to call this. A Chelsea win certainly wouldn't surprise you: they've had the better of Manchester City in recent months, their squad is full of winners, and you'd back them to win just about any big game they are faced with.

Just about, though. Because City are no standard opponent. They boast arguably the best squad of players on the planet, managed by someone to whom winning trophies is second nature, and they're miles ahead of everyone - including Chelsea - in the Premier League.

You'd fancy superior quality, and their desire to finally get a Champions League in the bag, to see Man City through. But only just.