90min

Twitter reacts to Manchester City & Chelsea's Champions League final lineups

By Max Cooper

Foden is a starter
Foden is a starter / Marc Atkins/Getty Images
facebooktwitterreddit

The Champions League final is upon us, people!

The last hurrah in our domestic season has finally arrived, and we're being treated to an all-English affair in Porto.

Season 7 Reaction GIF by The Office - Find & Share on GIPHY

Manchester City and Chelsea are the two sides going head to head for Europe's biggest bragging rights, with the Citizens hoping to lift the trophy for the first time in their history, and the Blues aiming to double their own personal tally.

The buzz before kickoff was all surrounding the team sheets. Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel are master tacticians and two of the best coaches in world football, but they are renowned (Pep especially) for going a bit mental in the crunch moments.

So, we were all left waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the two sets of lineups, desperate to see what the pair of football nerds had concocted for us on this tense Saturday evening.

The big news coming out of the Sky Blue camp was that Guardiola had not completely lost the plot ahead of this showpiece evening. There was no Ederson up front, nor the rarely seen 1-2-7 formation Citizens feared.

It was almost normal. The major surprise came in the midfield selection, as the Spaniard opted not to play one of Rodri or Fernandinho to shield the back four. For a Champions League final, it was bold to say the least.

On top of that, the bang out of form Raheem Sterling was given the nod, meaning he started in a front three with Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez.

Still, Pep roulette meant that there were some pretty handy game-changers lingering on the bench...

Of course, no matter how many trophies he's won, Twitter will continue to mock Guardiola...and rightly so, as long as it's funny.

As for Chelsea, there were some shocks in their lineup, too.

The first key note was that Edouard Mendy had returned from his injury to face Man City, meaning...no Kepa!

Some Chelsea fans were less pleased about Jorginho partnering N'Golo Kante in the midfield, though.

Up top, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount were the lucky chosen ones.

Some of you were not happy to see Christian Pulisic on the bench.

Fingers crossed for that tie match. Anyway, the biggest disappointment came when realising academy product Tammy Abraham didn't even make the bench. Tuchel, what has he done to you?

Not how you'd expect this season's top scorer for Chelsea to be treated.

But the stage is set, and the final is ticking ever nearer...let the game begin!

Home/Champions League