The Champions League final is a day away and one of the stars that might be in action in Porto, Poland on Saturday, May 29, Raheem Sterling, is already talking tough.
The 26-year-old English left-winger believes that Manchester City will defeat Chelsea at Estadio do Dragao, the venue of the Champions League final.
In the last 6 weeks, Chelsea have shown that they have superior power over Manchester City despite how the reigning Premier League champions have proven to be so formidable.
The arrival of coach Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea in January has made it impossible for coach Pep Guardiola to conquer Chelsea on two different occasions. Their first meeting was in the FA Cup semi-final which Chelsea won to end Manchester City’s journey in the competition. Then, they met in the Premier League and Thomas Tuchel edged out Guardiola.
Despite the superiority the German coach has shown against the Spanish coach in the last six weeks, Raheem Sterling who has not been enjoying regular game time at the club due to the form of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, and Riyad Mahrez, believes that the Champions League final would end in the favor of Manchester City.
According to the England international, it is only Manchester City that could stop themselves which means that Chelsea stand no chance against Pep Guardiola’s men on Saturday.
He said: “Chelsea are a strong team who have a lot of physically strong players.
“We have played them twice and lost twice, but this is a Champions League final. On the day, things are a lot different.
“You go into it with a clean mindset, those games that happened against them in recent times go out the window. It is now about focusing on winning that trophy.
“The only things that can stop us are ourselves if I am honest. It is a game where I expect a difficult test but at the same time I expect us to pull through.”
The perfect send off! 👋
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 27, 2021
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/NpRHi3DWOf
Recall that Raheem Sterling was one of the football stars that left Liverpool in 2015 when things were not going well for the club. He joined Manchester City for a transfer fee worth €63.70 million on July 4, 2015.
Since then, he has won all the domestic titles in English football multiple times but he is yet to help Manchester City to win the Champions League title.
“Since my time at this club that has been the ultimate goal, to try to reach the Champions League final and try to bring home the trophy”, he said.
“There is one game to go, that being a Champions League final, so you don’t need much more motivation than that.”
City stars touch down in Porto ✈️ 🇵🇹#UCLfinal | @ManCity pic.twitter.com/BdVmN7ydQf
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 27, 2021
