The really unfathomable part at the end of it all was why Pep Guardiola felt minded to kiss his runners-up medal.

Others, like the tear-streaked Oleksandr Zinchenko, ripped theirs from around their necks and trudged away to contemplate the utter wretchedness of it all.

Guardiola even made a joke about the losers' medal when receiving his.

When it comes to Guardiola and crucial moments in the Champions League, things really do make no sense at all.

He knew from bitter experience that major structural change to the team at a moment like this can bite you.

His Manchester City team were eliminated at the quarter final stage last season by Lyon when, for reasons known only to him, he overhauled the team structure and put five at the back.

His attack was left light, his defence was left bewildered and City lost 3-1.

This time, he stripped out all the midfield muscle, leaving Ilkay Gundogan as the sole holding midfielder and exposing his team to the fluid attacking thrusts of a Chelsea side which looked the faster, freer team all night.

When I meet Pep, I go home and write down what he says, so as not to forget it,' Thomas Tuchel said in his pre-match interview. No notes were required last night.

It seem at times that Guardiola simply has too much creative talent for his own good.

That line he likes to use about wanting '11 midfielders' clouds all judgement about the fundamental, old-fashioned requirement to marry attack and defence that even applies to beautiful football teams like his. Such prosaic considerations seem to be beneath his brilliant mind.

On this occasion, City suffered desperately for it. The hole Guardiola blew in his own ranks, by omitting Fernandinho, was exposed from the game's early stages.

There was the briefest stutter from Chelsea in the initial exchanges but thereafter they exploited at will City's incapacity to stem their raids.

The flanks bore the brunt. Timo Werner was in behind Oleksandr Zinchenko twice in the first three minutes, leaving John Stones struggling to make cover and Ruben Dias needing to intervene.

But right across the field, City were so intent on weaving attacking patterns that they did not seem to have considered Chelsea had some ambitions of their own for the final third.

As it turned out, the ace up Guardiola's sleeve, Raheem Sterling, for whom Fernandinho was dropped, could not lay a glove on Chelsea.

Reece James' marshalling of him was a huge statement of what the 21-year-old can bring. James eclipsed both Mount and Phil Foden, the young Englishmen who had dominated the pre-match narrative.

Guardiola seems so convinced in his powers that he also discounts the idea of his players becoming confused.

Just once all season had City started a game without either of the holding pair of Fernandinho and Gundogan.

Not since February had Sterling started a Champions League game. This did not seem like the ideal moment for a grand experiment.

The managerial body language gave the impression that Tuchel was the manager with the better attitude.

He radiated enthusiasm in the pre-match interviews, joking about selling all the Chelsea tickets to supporters who liked him as he stood in his rather garish, Chelsea-issue Champions League final track suit top.

Guardiola, prickly in his interviews, wouldn't be seen dead in an outfit like that. While he was mapping out a myriad of complexities, Tuchel was simply making pragmatic decisions about how best to deploy his players.

'We wanted to be the stone in their shoe,' he said when it was all over. 'The stone in the City clock.'

It can only have made it worse for Guardiola that N'Golo Kante – the heartbeat of Tuchel's team – was living, breathing evidence of what a holding midfielder could actually bring.

Kante was barely discernible as the trophy was hoisted. His 5ft 6in frame was lost in the melee. But when Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden tried to move the ball between the lines, he simply would not let them breathe.

The game was just beyond its hour mark when Fernandinho arrived in place of Bernardo Silva to shore things up, in what was a frank admission that the attacking set-up he'd started with had simply not worked. But by then, the game had gone.

Fortified by Havertz's strike, prosaic Chelsea players who no-one had seemed to have talked about - Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger – as well as James and Ben Chilwell were hell-bent on keeping City out.

It was hard to read the body language when City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak shook Guardiola's hand in the aftermath.

City's Abu Dhabi owners have spent the best part of 15 years waiting for but when it came to the crunch the manager was just too smart for his own good.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9633303/Pep-Guardiola-smart-good-Manchester-City-lost-Chelsea.html

He lost by the slimmest of margins : 0-1. Let's not over-analyse things.

Has Guardiola won the champions league without Xavi and Iniesta?

Just asking cos someone said on Twitter that Guardiola without Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, even with over £2billion is just an upgraded Mikael Arteta.

Tuchel destroyed Fraudiola. End of discussion.

The money when I use take place the bet for one mega shop belongs to our Church and it was meant to repair one of the Church 18-seater bus...

I just say make I risk am.... Wetin I wan tell Pastor Ademola A.K.A "God's Own General" today?

thesicilian:
He lost by the slimmest of margins : 0-1. Let's not over-analyse things.

If losing by a lone goal is the slimmest margin, what about losing out on the sudden death of a penalty shootout?

Not every coach can win UCL with two different teams....

Jokerman:
Not every coach can win UCL with two different teams....

Ole Gunnar Solksjær will do it

Amotolongbo:
Ole Gunnar Solksjær will do it

Lol... And Clownman

That guy played his best but Chelsea was Ruthless James no let steering to breath Kante no geer chilwell no let marhez all na sense it was a match filled with passion

pep is good no doubts but enough with the overhype. geez i couldn't even hear anything before the match, even man shoe fans that knows nothing was just yaping and saying do i believe pep would lose this final to Chelsea?
they also said pep does not lose final. well you know what? pep won those champions league finals because of the wonderful players like messi, Xavi, iniesta, etc period.

Guardiola is solely to blame for the defeat. He chose to play without a striker even when Jesus and Aguero were fully fit, using debruyne as false 9 which really backfired as he was ineffective. Starting without a holding midfielder despite having rodri and fernandinho fit was another gamble, his defense was exposed so many times, thank God for wasteful Werner; it would have been a different scoreline

Oghenerobo2002:
Guardiola is solely to blame for the defeat. He chose to play without a striker even when Jesus and Aguero were fully fit, using debruyne as false 9 which really backfired as he was ineffective. Starting without a holding midfielder despite having rodri and fernandinho fit was another gamble, his defense was exposed so many times, thank God for wasteful Werner; it would have been a different scoreline

any reasonable coach will play without a striker against chelsea because of how Chelsea defence line is set up. how do you think Aguero would have hurt chelsea when Chelsea doesn't give you the Chance to penetrate through the middle even. suarez and benzima no get chance to do that one if nor that set piece goal. chelsea is a dangerous team to play period

lolz...pep lost last nite n we should all congratulate Chelsea n move on than giving endless analysis to a tactician dt is better than all European coaches currently..
Ferguson is still rated as d best coach in EPL n he lost twice against this same pep n even a more experienced fergie cant speak against the tactics of pep because he knows pep isnt a rookie in d game n its d same tactics dt made him the best..
many jobless online analyst trying to criticize a man with over 30+ trophies and still counting asif u know better than an "expert in his own line of business"...
after church today, i even saw Olu chelsea dts a vulcanizer giving many reasons why he called pep a stupid coach...o wrong na..

He should be shown the way out. He has tried and dominated England.

However the UCL seems out of reach.

thesicilian:
He lost by the slimmest of margins : 0-1. Let's not over-analyse things.

I swear everybody are airing their free opinion to analyze n criticize the best coach in Europe just because of a bad nite...
am not surprised because we all av short memories n appreciate good times...
or isnt it d same pep dt won d Almighty Fergie in two UCL finals??
some are even asking for his sack forgetting dt its d same coach dt keeps winning the highly rated EPL n making it a farmers league..

paulolee:

I swear even pundits like garrry neivelle n henry dt failed woefully would join to analyze n criticize the best coach in Europe just because of a bad nite...dts life for u

Best Coach in Europe

PlayMaker14:
The money when I use take place the bet for one mega shop belongs to our Church and it was meant to repair one of the Church 18-seater bus...

I just say make I risk am.... Wetin I wan tell Pastor Ademola A.K.A "God's Own General" today?

.
looooolz.....jus show am d tickets n e go understand, but also pray say make e be Chelsea fan because him fit use happiness forgive u but if na barca, man.u or gunners fan eeh, jus got with some church elders Mk e no call sars n army join to kum carry u

Freaknasty:


Best Coach in Europe

yes I said it...losing trophy takes nothing away from him because he won ur epl god fergie twice in this same UCL final n u guys in EPL are still rating Ferguson ahead of others in EPL...
pep lost n av learnt just like tuchel n klopp once lost a UCL final too before they won It..
pep is still d best currently n he would surely bounce bk or do u want to name any manager in d last 10 years dt have more wins, more goals n more trophies than pep??
any manager currently in europe dt av more trophies than pep??
m waiting bcoz ur tuchel jus got started n gat jus 10 trophies...so put some respect on pep's name bro....u dig??

Freaknasty:
He should be shown the way out. He has tried and dominated England.

However the UCL seems out of reach.

lolz...another joke....show d way out because he lost d ucl even after dominating English football for years abi??
but united didnt sack Almighty fergie after he lost 2 UCL finals against d same team n same coach abi?? well done bro..
pep signed a new 4yr deal this season n he would stay longer to continue his dominance against all of u so try to get used to it..
pep is a master tactician n just a bad day in office doesn't means failure for a born winner like pep..
a man with massive 30+ trophies losing jus 2 finals isn't a joke...
jus cut him some slack n gv him more respect pls..

Ifybwoy7:
any reasonable coach will play without a striker against chelsea because of how Chelsea defence line is set up. how do you think Aguero would have hurt chelsea when Chelsea doesn't give you the Chance to penetrate through the middle even. suarez and benzima no get chance to do that one if nor that set piece goal. chelsea is a dangerous team to play period

Playing a striker will keep the center back at bay, city wide players would have had more one on one with Chelsea defenders. City couldn't even play shots on/off targets. They were more dangerous when changes were made

That nigga tactics backfired. Playing with no Central Forward. And Starting three Attacking Midfielders in Mid-field. His plan was to play Possessive football. But Chelsea outsmarted them on the counter.

Make France come go win EURO 2020 join Kante for 2020/2021 Ballon d'Or

Oghenerobo2002:
Guardiola is solely to blame for the defeat. He chose to play without a striker even when Jesus and Aguero were fully fit, using debruyne as false 9 which really backfired as he was ineffective. Starting without a holding midfielder despite having rodri and fernandinho fit was another gamble, his defense was exposed so many times, thank God for wasteful Werner; it would have been a different scoreline

Ogbeni sit down. They've been playing without a striker for long now. Even against psg, they played without a striker in both leg and won, same with Dortmund and Mochenglabach. Theyve been playing without a strkrr in league so don't u you say they lost bcus they didn't play a striker yesterday, it's lame. 100% agree he should've played a holding midfielder, but wetin concern me? We Don win

mynd44

Luigi02:

Ogbeni sit down. They've been playing without a striker for long now. Even against psg, they played without a striker in both leg and won, same with Dortmund and Mochenglabach. Theyve been playing without a strkrr in league so don't u you say they lost bcus they didn't play a striker yesterday, it's lame. 100% agree he should've played a holding midfielder, but wetin concern me? We Don win

Don't be rude to make your point. Did they not score and missed a penalty when they played 2 strikers against Chelsea in EPL? Have you read the news headline? "over thinking, guardiola's problem continues "

When Pep was at Bayern and Tuchel at Mainz, it was probably only Mainz that attacked Bayern while others went for damage control during the Bundesliga. Tho Tuchel lost both times, he earned Pep's respect and they met at a restaurant later on to discuss tactics.

Tuchel wanted the meeting at all costs and was set up by a mutual friend. The third party reported that of all questions, Tuchel chose to ask why Bayern's fullbacks tucked in midfield when they played Madrid..

Since then, Pep has never beaten Tuchel..

-The Athletic

heniford2:
That guy played his best but Chelsea was Ruthless James no let steering to breath Kante no geer chilwell no let marhez all na sense it was a match filled with passion

My guy you know how to analyze football,immediately sterling was removed i told my guys that the game is over,kudos to james i never knew he's that good.

I think Foden should have started in Sterling's position. Why play Gundogan deep when fernandinho is fully fit.....Bernardo should also be a super sub for mahrez in the second half while Aguero leads the front.

If fernandinho had started, he probably would have fallen Havertz and stop the danger.

Honestly, Pep's too dey overthink

Pep really dissapointed himself last night, Chelsea already lost two consecutive games, and yet he was beaten the third time by Tuchel.

Congratulations to Chelsea football club of England.

I knew Man city will lose if De bruyne was among the starting 11 because Kante will be ready for him. He should have been used as a sub. I was shocked when he started him.

Every sport on planet Earth has one loosing and the other winning. Doing "Ajayi'' work in the name of analysis over something that was a 50-50 win for both teams is a very stupid and needless stress. E koshi lo.