Dreams of a continental and domestic double will end for Chelsea or Manchester City, as the two sides lock horns in today’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea and Manchester City both reached the Champions League semi-finals in midweek but will have their sights set on another piece of silverware but this will be the first meeting between Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola since the German moved to England in January.
Previously the two men dueled as the respective coaches of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich and both will be hoping to land a psychological blow at Wembley as they target future success and the possibility of meeting again in the Champions League final.
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A piece of domestic silverware would further boost Tuchel’s cache with the Chelsea board come to the summer window and the 47-year-old has impressed since replacing Frank Lampard. Lampard led the Blues to last season’s FA Cup final but the defensive issues that plagued them that day continued to hamper their hopes of success and his successor has prioritised a solid foundation.
Recent defeats by West Brom and Porto can both be mitigated. In the former they were reduced to 10 men when leading 1-0, while they looked secure in protecting a 2-0 first-leg advantage for all but the last kick of Tuesday’s defeat in Seville, only to fall victim to Mehdi Taremi’s wonder strike.
City, meanwhile, demonstrated their resilience to come from behind to win 2-1 away at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday and make the last four of the Champions League for the first time under Guardiola thanks to a 4-2 aggregate victory.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
