Champions League man of the match N'Golo Kante covers so much ground he is like "two players", according to former Chelsea midfielder and assistant head coach Eddie Newton.

Kante was in imperious form on Saturday as Chelsea edged past Manchester City 1-0 to secure their first Champions League triumph since 2012, Kai Havertz scoring the decisive goal shortly before half-time.

The France international won 11 of 15 duels, recovered the ball 10 times for his team, and the shortest man on the pitch won four out of seven aerial duels – nobody on his team tallied more.

Former Chelsea playmaker Joe Cole hailed Kante's display, telling BT Sport: "I don't think there's a more important player for his team in world football than Kante."

And Newton, who played for Chelsea between 1990 and 1999 and had spells as assistant head coach in 2012 and 2015-16, was in agreement, describing Kante as the Blues' "engine".

"He's an integral part of any team," Newton exclusively told Stats Perform. "He is the engine. He doesn't care about the razzmatazz, he's a very humble human being. 

"He raises his game every single time. He trains the way he plays. His levels are always the same. 

"His mindset is very strong. Physically he's a joke and able to cover so much ground; he's like two players. 

"He inspires players around him. It motivates you to do more. If you're going to war together, you're going to raise your game, that natural human spirit will rise to the occasion. 

"That's what he does; motivates and inspires others to raise their game."

Newton was also fulsome in his praise of Mason Mount and Reece James, who are both expected to be named in Gareth Southgate's final England squad for Euro 2020. 

Mount laid on Havertz's goal with one of three key passes – the most of any player on the pitch – while he finished with a joint game-high pass completion rate of 96 per cent. 

James, meanwhile, superbly shackled City forward Raheem Sterling, making more tackles (seven) and clearances (five) than any player on the pitch. 

Right-back James is a year younger than 22-year-old Mount and Newton believes the pair can be integral figures for Chelsea over the next decade. 

"Everyone at Chelsea is proud of what Mason's done," he said. "It doesn't matter how many people are around you, this young man's mental attributes set him apart. 

"Reece was outstanding and was very close to being man of the match. He took Sterling out of the game, nullified him, forcing Sterling to defend. Maybe he won't get the plaudits, but he was outstanding. 

"He's done himself so many favours with his performances and his attitude. His work rate, concentration and adaptability is very strong. 

"Another one for the future. You're looking at so many players. It's a fantastic squad that is quite young. 

"This is the beginning of a cycle. It could be the next 10 years for Chelsea. For the rest of the league, they'll be looking at Chelsea and it's ominous for them."

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has revealed he suffered a broken nose and a fracture around his eye socket in the clash with Antonio Rudiger that ended his Champions League final outing prematurely. 

The City playmaker collided with Chelsea defender Rudiger in the 56th minute, at which point Pep Guardiola's side had already conceded what proved to be the decisive goal from Kai Havertz in Porto.

De Bruyne's injury led to a lengthy delay as the Belgian received treatment on the field before he was substituted, the 29-year-old clearly in distress.

On Sunday, he tweeted to confirm the details of his injury, though it remains unclear if it will impact on his ability to feature for his country at Euro 2020.

"Hi guys just got back from the hospital. My diagnosis is Acute nose bone fracture and left orbital fracture," he wrote. 

"I feel okay now. Still disappointed about yesterday obviously but we will be back."

Belgium are scheduled to begin their Euros campaign against Russia in St Petersburg on June 12.

Thiago Silva claims he was scapegoated during his time at Paris Saint-Germain and is thankful to Frank Lampard for bringing him to Chelsea last year.

The Brazilian centre-back was speaking after the Blues' 1-0 win over Manchester City in Saturday's Champions League final at Estadio do Dragao.

Silva became the oldest player to appear for Chelsea in a major European final, overtaking Claude Makelele, but the 36-year-old lasted only 39 minutes before limping off injured.

He is also only the fifth player to play in the Champions League final in consecutive seasons with different teams, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa, Samuel Eto'o and Alvaro Morata.

Kai Havertz netted the only goal of the game in Porto three minutes after Silva exited the field as Chelsea became the third English side, after Manchester United and Liverpool, to lift the trophy more than once.

The victory was particularly sweet for Silva, who was a beaten finalist with PSG against Bayern Munich last August in his final game for the club before departing as a free agent.

The French giants fell short in all eight of Silva's seasons at the Parc des Princes, but the experienced defender feels he was unfairly singled out for blame after each disappointment.

"This is the most important moment of my career," he told RMC Sport. "It's unforgettable. I didn't manage it with PSG but today I'm happy. I hope PSG do it one day, too.

"Every time PSG were eliminated, people tried to find a culprit and it was always me. That's a shame because I really gave everything.

"But I hope they win it because I have left a lot of friends there. I will always stay red and blue."

Silva arrived at Chelsea shortly after PSG's loss to Bayern last August after being persuaded to join by then-head coach Lampard.

The former midfielder guided Chelsea through the group stage unbeaten, but he was sacked in January and replaced by Tuchel following a disappointing run of domestic results.

But while Tuchel – the third different German coach to win the Champions League in the past three seasons – has received much of the plaudits, Silva was also keen to praise Lampard. 

"This is special, in what is my first year here," he said. "Tuchel has changed the team mentality, but it is also important to talk about Lampard.

"Without him I would not be here. So, thanks to him for letting me sign here. I'm very happy and I hope he is, too."

Including his 39-minute appearance in the final, Silva featured eight times for Chelsea in their successful Champions League campaign.

The former Milan man, who won all four of his duels against City before leaving the pitch, is set to be out of contract again next month and has yet to agree fresh terms.

Asked if he will stay on at Stamford Bridge, Silva said: "We will see. We must take it season by season." 

Thomas Tuchel was delighted to make the best possible first impression with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and suggested Saturday's Champions League final win over Manchester City had already secured him a longer-term stay at Stamford Bridge.

Kai Havertz scored the only goal in the 42nd minute at Estadio do Dragao, as Chelsea sealed a deserved triumph over the lacklustre Premier League champions.

Tuchel joined Chelsea with the Blues at a low ebb in January after Frank Lampard's sacking, but he has overseen a remarkable turnaround, including a run to the final that saw off Porto, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.

The former Borussia Dortmund boss only signed an 18-month contract at Stamford Bridge shortly after being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain.

When discussing his first meeting with Abramovich on the pitch after the match, Tuchel hinted a clause to extend his deal might have been triggered by Chelsea's second European title.

"I'm not 100 per cent sure, but maybe I have already a new contract with that win. My manager [agent] said something about it – let's check this first," he said.

"I spoke to the owner right now on the pitch, it was the best moment for a first meeting. Or the maybe the worst, because from now on it can only get worse!

"We will speak tomorrow and I'm looking forward to this. I can assure him that I will stay hungry and want the next title.

"I feel really happy as part of a really ambitious club, part of a strong group that suits my beliefs and passion about football in this moment perfectly.

"My desire is to go for more victories, to grow as a coach and to push the squad on the first day of next season to the limit.

"We have work to do, we have to close the gap and this is what it's all about. He knows what's going on for me directly and it's nice to meet him."

Tuchel's refusal to bask in success and train his eyes on the next challenge was particularly notable and a mantra to which he kept returning.

Chelsea have now beaten City three times in succession since mid-April and, despite their fourth-placed finish this season, are likely to be seen as key contenders to Pep Guardiola and his side's domestic crown next time around.

"It's about the next one, honestly," he said. "I experienced it in a lower level with my first title in professional football and I was not surprised, it was even a nice feeling that it did not do too much to me.

"When we won the cup in Dortmund I did not arrive in the next training with less hunger, less desire or less ambition.

"Now is the time to celebrate for some days, to enjoy and to let it sink in. Of course this is the time now for one or two weeks, to talk about it and reflect on it, but then it does surprisingly not a lot to you.

"Nobody wants to rest, I don't want to rest. I want the next success, the next title, the next process on the same level of quality and consistency.

"I want to be a part of it and I demand to be a part of it. This is what comes next, make no mistake about it."

Christian Pulisic said it felt "just crazy" as the Chelsea forward became the first American player to be a Champions League winner.

The 22-year-old former Borussia Dortmund star came off the bench in the second half and went close to doubling Chelsea's lead, but they settled for a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.

Speaking after the final in Porto, Pulisic told CBS Sports: "I can't explain it, it's still such a shock. I'm so proud."

He was watched by his parents and a number of friends from the stands at the Estadio do Dragao, making the occasion all the more special.

"I'm so thankful for all the support. To have people here today was amazing," Pulisic said.

"I knew I was going to have to put in the hard work defensively. I wish I put away the chance I had. I didn't quite get under it like I wanted, but in the end this team was always going to win this game and I'm so proud of them."

Plagued by injuries this season, Pulisic was able to bring father Mark and mother Kelley into the celebrations on the pitch to mark a happy ending to a tough campaign.

Pulisic added: "I have my parents here so I've just been speaking to them. I'm so proud to be here.

"It's been a difficult road for me and I couldn't imagine winning the Champions League ever in my life and now I'm here so it's just crazy."

While Chelsea's players head off to summer breaks or away on international duty, Pulisic said the aim next season would be to "come back and try to do the same thing".

Olivier Giroud, who played a significant part in Chelsea reaching the final, was an unused substitute against City.

But the veteran striker, who could have a big role to play for France at Euro 2020, was determined to enjoy the evening.

"It's extraordinary, we had a remarkable route, we knocked out some big teams like Real [Madrid], Atletico wasn't easy, Porto either, and tonight we played against a great team in City," Giroud told RMC Sports.

"It wasn't played out on a big thing, these kinds of matches are played out in details."

Giroud hailed the performance of player of the match and fellow Frenchman N'Golo Kante, whose action-packed display in midfield kept Chelsea moving forward.

"It's right that he was man of the match, he's huge, he won 50 balls, he hurt them," Giroud said.

"He's unbelievable, this guy. It feels like there are 12 players on the pitch with him. I'm happy for him.

"We're a bunch of friends and it shows on the pitch, I'm happy that our efforts have been rewarded. You could see our determination tonight and our desire to go out and get it."

Pep Guardiola insisted he "did the selection best to win the game" after Manchester City slumped to a 1-0 Champions League defeat against Chelsea in Porto.

Kai Havertz's 42nd-minute goal on the end of Mason Mount's brilliant throughball was enough to deny City their first success in Europe's top competition.

Premier League champions City lacked their usual fluency and mustered a solitary shot on target over the course of the contest, despite sending record goalscorer Sergio Aguero on for a farewell appearance late on.

The Opta expected goals (xG) figures for the match were 1.35-0.45 in Chelsea's favour.

Guardiola sprung a selectorial surprise before kick-off by omitting Fernandinho and Rodri and starting with Ilkay Gundogan at the base of his midfield.

The ploy backfired as City struggled for control throughout the match, especially in the first half, but Guardiola insisted his process was the same as the one that preceded this season's triumphs over Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, along with last year's similarly dispiriting quarter-final reverse against Lyon.

"I did my best in the selection. Like last season against Olympique Lyon, like it was against PSG and Dortmund," the City manager told a post-match new conference.

"I did the selection best to win the game, the players know it. I think Gundogan played good, was exceptional. We missed a little but in the first half to break the lines. In the second half it was much better.

"It was a tight game. We had enormous almost chances.

"Against Chelsea it's not easy but it wasn't for them either. They had the goal and Werner's shot in the first half and Pulisic in the second half.

"We struggled a little bit for the long balls, they used the second balls and after they run.

"In that moment, you need inspiration and quality. There were three or four moments with crosses from the byline but we did not arrive."

In City's 61 matches across all competitions in 2020-21, this was only the second time neither Rodri or Fernandinho featured in a starting line-up.

Explaining his rationale, Guardiola said he hoped Gundogan would quicken the tempo of City's play.

The Germany international completed an impressive 76 of his 80 passes (95 per cent) but the club's top scorer this season was unable to have a decisive influence as he created a solitary chance and did not attempt a single shot.

"I decided a decision to have quality players," Guardiola said.

"Gundogan played many years in this position, to have speed on the ball, find the small players, the brilliant players in between the lines and this was the decision."

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel conceded Guardiola's gambit had led to some raised eyebrows in his camp.

"I expected Fernandinho to start," he said. "He chose a very offensive line-up, a very technical line-up, it was very hard to steal the balls and recover the balls.

"Everything else we more or less expected. We expected them to try and pin us on the sides very wide, so it was very important that we stepped out with Toni [Antonio Rudiger] and Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta] to support our midfield.

"It was important to stay in a block in the front five to avoid diagonal switches of play for the number 10s. We had to play with a strong bond and a genuine belief and this is what we did."

City's cause was not helped by Kevin De Bruyne departing with a nasty-looking head injury following a collision with Rudiger before the hour, for which the Chelsea defender was booked.

"I don't know about the pain he has in his face, I didn't see him or speak to the doctor because I came to speak with all of you, Hopefully it will not be a big problem," said Guardiola, who was also keen to flag the achievements overall of a campaign where City won a third top-flight title in four years and a fourth consecutive EFL Cup.

"I would like to say it was an exceptional, exceptional season for us. It is a dream being here, unfortunately we could not win," he added.

"We tried, we could not do it and we will work to come back one day."

Chelsea star Mason Mount savoured the climax to "a long, long journey" after the Blues beat Manchester City 1-0 to win the Champions League on Saturday.

Premier League champions City were eyeing a 2020-21 treble, and instead Chelsea claimed their second Champions League crown thanks to Kai Havertz's 42nd-minute goal.

Mount split City's defence with a sublime throughball for Havertz, who became the first player to score his maiden Champions League goal in the final since Ilkay Gundogan in 2013.

Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea nullified City to become the third English side to win the Champions League on two occasions, after Liverpool (2004-05 and 2018-19) and Manchester United (1998-99 and 2007-08).

Mount – the first English player to provide a Champions League final assist since Manchester United's Wes Brown in 2008 – revelled in the feat afterwards.

"I can't put it into words – it's impossible," Mount told BT Sport. "I've played in two finals for Chelsea, FA Cup and we've lost them both, and the way that hurt.

"To go all the way in the UEFA Champions League, I can't put it into words – it's such a special occasion.

"City have top, top players, it was such a tough game. We get one goal, kind of on the break, and then we defended for our lives.

"What it means to us is unbelievable; it's a long, long journey to get to this moment here."

Chelsea have lifted the trophy in six of their seven major European finals in their history, with this their fourth European success in the Roman Abramovich era alone (Champions League in 2020-21 and 2011-12, Europa League in 2012-13 and 2018-19).

Thomas Tuchel savoured Chelsea's "incredible" Champions League triumph and said the approach to beating Manchester City was to be "a stone in their shoe".

Club-record signing Kai Havertz's first Champions League goal late in the first half was enough for the Blues to win the biggest prize in European club football in Porto on Saturday.

City could only register one shot on target at Estadio do Dragao as Chelsea were crowned champions of Europe for a second time.

Tuchel was only appointed to replace Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge in January and four months later the German has made them the kings of the continent. 

The 47-year-old suffered the agony of losing the Champions League final to Bayern Munich when he was Paris Saint-Germain head coach last season, but had very different emotions this time around.

"To share it with everybody is incredible. We made it. Wow. I don't know what to feel," said the former Borussia Dortmund boss.

"I was so grateful to arrive a second time [in the final]. I felt different. We were somehow... You could feel it getting closer, we had the focus.

"The [players] were determined to win this. We wanted to be a stone in their shoe. We encouraged everybody to step up and step out, to be more brave and create dangerous counter-attacks.

"It was a tough physical game. We had to help each other out."

Tuchel has masterminded three victories over City in just over a month, overcoming Pep Guardiola's side in the Premier League and FA Cup prior to this weekend's triumph.

Ben Chilwell said winning the Champions League was "what I came to Chelsea for" after Thomas Tuchel's side stunned Manchester City in Porto.

The England left-back moved to Stamford Bridge from Leicester City last August and finished his first season as a European club champion.

He helped keep the likes of Riyad Mahrez quiet as Chelsea landed a 1-0 victory over pre-match favourites City on Saturday.

"We fought so hard," said Chilwell. "We knew that it was going to be a tough game and in the second half we fought for our lives.

"We just pictured this moment and this feeling and it's amazing. It's what I came to Chelsea for. It's a dream come true."

Speaking to BT Sport, Chilwell said Chelsea had done their homework on the likes of Mahrez and Raheem Sterling.

"We knew their strengths and knew Riyad and Raheem on the wings were potentially going to cause us problems," Chilwell said.

"So me and Reece [James, the right-back] had to be on our game and I think the key was to be tight and try to be aggressive with them.

"I was getting very tired as the game went on but when the Champions League was up for grabs it doesn't really matter."

Kai Havertz takes the glory and Timo Werner did everything but score, running Manchester City ragged for over an hour, rewriting the narrative surrounding Chelsea's spending spree of last year.

But perhaps the smartest move by those pulling the strings at Chelsea has been to keep N'Golo Kante, a colossus of this Champions League final; crowding, cramping City's style, always lurking and looking, Kante was absolutely pivotal to the dark blues bossing this match.

The talk was, going back 12 months, that Chelsea were thinking about selling Kante.

Billy Gilmour was emerging, Mason Mount was everything Frank Lampard has ever looked for in a midfielder, and with a big-money Havertz deal in the pipeline it seemed the face of Chelsea's midfield would be a young one.

Kante had endured injuries, and then he was reluctant to immediately return to training when the Premier League's lockdown ended in June, seeking clear assurances of coronavirus safety where others were perhaps in a hurry to get back to Cobham.

Was he as committed as others? Was his injury track record a worry? Lampard – remember him? – memorably killed the Kante exit talk at a stroke last June when he labelled the Frenchman "one of the best midfield players in the world".

"I actually would have loved to play with him, the type of player he is," Lampard said in a news conference. "He has everything, and coming back to Chelsea and managing this club, having N'Golo Kante, is something I really wanted to appreciate and work with."

Lampard presumably watched this final, regardless of his sacking by Chelsea in January, and how he must have again admired the Parisian's all-action efforts.

At full-time, former England and Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand declared on BT Sport: "Kante put on a masterclass in how to retrieve the ball, to defend, to then break things up and be a menace in that midfield. He controlled the game."

Joe Cole, the former Chelsea playmaker, went one step further, saying: "I don't think there's a more important player for his team in world football than Kante. We've watched a showpiece game and with him it looked like man against boys. He drove that Chelsea team."

Before this game, Kante had started seven games and came off the bench six more times in the Champions League this season.

Heading into the final, there had been just six midfielders in this season's competition with a passing accuracy above 85 per cent (Kante: 86.39), an accuracy into the final third of above 80 per cent (82.14), more than 40 ball recoveries (63), over 500 touches (511) and 25 possession wins in the midfield third of the pitch (42).

The others have been Real Madrid's Luka Modric and Toni Kroos – hopes of silverware for Los Blancos ended with the semi-final defeat to Chelsea – plus Atletico Madrid's Koke and the City pair of Rodri and Fernandinho.

That's the City pair who started this final on the substitutes' bench, both having been almost ever-present throughout the European campaign, victims of Pep Guardiola's latest big-match team selection twaddle.

By half-time, Chelsea were in front and Kante was in charge.

Former City midfield hardman Nigel de Jong tweeted: "Not the first half you want to see as a city fan... Kante is running the show at the moment stretching that midfield out. Restore a holding midfielder is key here."

De Jong had nailed it. Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea boss, must have been relieved the Dutchman sent the message on social media rather than as a text to the City dugout.

Ben Chilwell had made an early dash down the left and Kante burst forward, the furthest Chelsea man upfield. Although the move came to nothing, it was a sign he would not simply sit deep.

Moments later, Kante was helping out right-back Reece James against Phil Foden. In the 12th minute it was Kante bursting on to a pass on the edge of the City penalty area, albeit without having the sass to outwit Ruben Dias.

When City broke at pace after Werner twice went close, it was Kante on the edge of the 18-yard box there to make the crucial interception, and a minute later the five foot, seven inch Frenchman was winning the ball in the air at the other end of the pitch but heading just off target from left-back Chilwell's cross.

Proving a terrific nuisance, a hawk constantly surveying the field for his next prey, Kante pinched the ball from Kevin de Bruyne and raced from his own half deep into City territory, feeding Havertz who might have done better but had the ball whipped away from his left foot as he prepared to unload a shot.

Havertz, suddenly with a taste for goal, did better just before the break after Mount's delicious throughball, the young Englishman stepping into an area of the pitch where on another day he might have encountered Fernandinho or Rodri.

Kante teed up Werner for a half-chance before the whistle came for the interval, a cute chip into the penalty area from the right wing showing another unsung aspect of his repertoire.

It continued into the second half, Kante sliding in to take the ball off De Bruyne with a clean tackle as the Belgian darted towards the edge of the Chelsea box.

When De Bruyne went off, dazed by Antonio Rudiger's bodycheck, he might well have been seeing double. But he had endured an hour of that with Kante anyway, or at least it must have felt that way, more often than not finding the Frenchman on his heels.

And so Chelsea's other players raised their game to match Kante, and now they are European champions again. He won 11 of 15 duels, recovered the ball 10 times for his team, and the shortest man on the pitch won four out of seven aerial duels – nobody on his team won more.

In every way possible, he rose to the challenge.

Rumours that Pep Guardiola had gone and done a thing were whipping around Estadio do Dragao's press box long before the news was confirmed an hour and 15 minutes ahead of kick-off.

He had indeed done a thing.

In 59 of City's 60 matches in all competitions this season, at least one of Rodri or Fernandinho had started in holding midfield. It seems unlikely that a 3-0 Champions League group-stage win over Olympiacos was the tactical template for Saturday's insipid 1-0 final defeat against Chelsea.

But there it was in black and white. City's top scorer Ilkay Gundogan would start at the base of the midfield, with a slew of attacking talent to do his bidding further up the field. It was a bold strategy but one that robbed the Premier League champions of their rhythm and did nothing to dissuade the threat coming the other way.

Of course, Guardiola has previous in this regard in the decade since he last lifted the big trophy with Barcelona in 2011. Most recently, he deployed a disjointed 3-5-2 to be dumped out by Lyon in last season's quarter-final, although this probably had as much in common with the cavalier approach that saw Real Madrid dismantle his Bayern Munich side at the Allianz Arena back in 2014. 

There was none of the control he craves, the control that lay at the root of City's magnificent revival from 12 points out of their first eight games to lift a third English title in four seasons. Their best chances in the first half came from an Ederson punt down field and Kyle Walker running terrifyingly fast from right-back. Playmaker Bernardo Silva was the most notable performer in a talent-stacked City midfield for a succession of slide tackles.

What was more, this felt like the season when Guardiola had normalised his cerebral approach. City won the title without a conventional striker for the bulk of the season as false nines become the undisputed truth, he switched between a back three and a back four in-game during the side's most purple patch as Joao Cancelo – now off form and more understandably benched – roved.

In tough knockout encounters with Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain he didn't blink and prevailed. It was the season where the concept of Guardiola "overthink" died until it was resurrected in Porto.

For all that Guardiola said City's two defeats to Chelsea recently, in the FA Cup semi-final and the Premier League with heavily rotated line-ups, counted for "zero" they were evidence of the problems Thomas Tuchel's rigorously well-drilled 3-4-2-1 could cause.

Heading into the game, since the start of the 2019-20, City's win rate against teams playing three or five at the back (P46 W32) was 69.6 per cent, down on 76.7 per cent against those using a back four – not insignificant for a club that does an awful lot of winning.

Additionally, Guardiola's respect for Tuchel is very well documented and that high esteem meant he was perhaps loathe to give his opponent something predictable.

Hard as it was to discern the plan as the men in sky blue engaged in chaosball, it was maybe designed to suffocate Chelsea's back three and Jorginho and N'Golo Kante – again, naturally, imperious on the grandest stage – and not let Tuchel's team out.

But City's disorganisation allowed Chelsea to make merry in the Fernandinho-Rodri shaped hole behind the forwards, exploiting it plenty of times before Mason Mount's delicious throughball allowed Kai Havertz to round Ederson for the decisive goal.

Fernandinho's introduction for Silva in the 64th minute meant the plan had failed. Even with Kevin De Bruyne off injured, it prompted City's most convincing spell of the match – admittedly a painfully low bar – and that should gnaw at Guardiola.

Sergio Aguero came on for Rahem Sterling, whose run of one club goal since February rarely threatened to improve, but one last act of injury-time heroism was beyond City's all-time top scorer, for whom the tears flowed after the final whistle.

Having declared himself "the happiest man in the world" on the eve of the match, Guardiola has ended a season that threatened to be remembered as his masterpiece on a note of bitter disappointment, his 10-year wait for a third European title going on and complicit in his own misery.

Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea won the Champions League for a second time by beating Manchester City 1-0 in an all-English final in Porto.

Chelsea forward Havertz saved his first Champions League goal for the biggest stage at Estadio do Dragao on Saturday, opening the scoring late in the first half.

Thomas Tuchel's hugely impressive, well-drilled side held on to break City hearts, denying the Premier League champions a treble in their first Champions League final.

Tuchel had suffered the agony of defeat in the biggest game in European club football last year as Paris Saint-Germain boss, but his fellow German Havertz ensured he got the better of Pep Guardiola for a third time in just over a month.

City, surprisingly starting without both Fernandinho and Rodri for only the second time this season, had the first chance when Ederson sent Raheem Sterling clear with a brilliant pass, but the forward's poor touch allowed a combination of Reece James and Edouard Mendy to advert the danger.

Timo Werner's intelligent runs and pace was unsettling the City defence, but he missed his kick when Germany team-mate Havertz picked him out before finishing tamely after Mason Mount presented him with a glorious chance.

A magnificent tackle from Antonio Rudiger denied Phil Foden when he looked set to open the scoring and it was Chelsea who took the lead after Thiago Silva had limped off.

Mount was the architect, spotting a huge hole at the heart of the City defence and threading a pinpoint throughball for Havertz, who rounded Ederson and slotted home three minutes before the break.

City suffered another big blow early in the second half when a tearful and shaken Kevin De Bruyne was forced off with a black eye following a collision with Rudiger, who was shown a yellow card.

The verdict from referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz and the VAR was no penalty when City thought James had handled before Fernandinho replaced Bernardo Silva.

Substitute Christian Pulisic spurned a golden opportunity to give Chelsea breathing space 18 minutes from time, failing to hit the target after Havertz played him in on a blistering break.

Guardiola sent on Sergio Augero for his final City appearance but there was no dream swansong for City's record goalscorer, Riyad Mahrez slicing a shot just wide deep into seven minutes of stoppage time as Chelsea held on to be crowned champions of Europe.

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne was forced off in the second half of the Champions League final with a head injury after a worrying collision with Antonio Rudiger.

De Bruyne collided with Chelsea defender Rudiger in the 56th minute as the Blues led 1-0 through Kai Havertz's goal, resulting in an elongated break in play on Saturday.

City playmaker De Bruyne received lengthy treatment from the team's medical staff but was deemed unable to continue.

Visibly upset as he was helped from the field, De Bruyne endured a frustrating evening as his influence was limited by Chelsea's defence.

De Bruyne played one key pass but completed only half of his passes in the Chelsea half.

The scenes that brought about the end of his involvement will be of concern to Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez, with De Bruyne due to link up with the Red Devils after the final ahead of their Euro 2020 campaign.

Belgium are scheduled to begin their Euros campaign against Russia in St Petersburg on June 12.

Kai Havertz became the first player to score his maiden Champions League goal in the final since Ilkay Gundogan in 2013 when he broke the deadlock for Chelsea against Manchester City on Saturday.

Germany international Havertz – a big-money signing from Bayer Leverkusen ahead of the 2020-21 campaign – put Thomas Tuchel's side ahead three minutes before the interval in Porto. 

The 21-year-old had made 20 appearances in the competition with the Blues and Leverkusen without scoring prior to that strike. 

He was teed up by Mason Mount, who became the first English player to provide a Champions League final assist since Manchester United's Wes Brown against the Blues in 2008. 

Havertz is the youngest German player to have netted in the European showpiece match since Lars Ricken for Borussia Dortmund against Juventus in 1997.

Thiago Silva, meanwhile, became Chelsea's oldest player to appear in a major European final, aged 36 years and 249 days. He overtook Claude Makelele, who was 35 years and 93 days when he faced United 13 years ago.

The Brazilian's game ended early, however, the Brazil international substituted with an injury in the 39th minute. 

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