“I did what I thought was the best decision,” Guardiola said.
It was a decision that backfired, though. Ilkay Gundogan, City’s top scorer this season and a revelation in his attacking-midfield role, ended up dropping in as the anchorman in midfield and he struggled to protect City’s defense.
Indeed, for Chelsea’s goal, Mount had so much time and space to thread a pass from inside his own half through the center of City’s defense — which was opened up by Timo Werner’s decoy run — for Havertz to run onto.
So, City’s long, often-painful and lavishly funded journey to the summit of European soccer remains incomplete. The sight of its star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne coming off the field in the 60th minute, slightly wobbly and clearly concussed after a clash for heads with Antonio Rudiger, just added to the pain and made a comeback even more unlikely.
Sergio Aguero came on in the 76th minute for his final appearance after 10 trophy-filled years at City, but the Argentina striker couldn’t produce any late heroics this time.
City’s players slumped to the ground at the final whistle as Rudiger sprinted the length of the field to celebrate with the nearly 6,000 Chelsea fans who made up the 14,110 attendance at Estadio do Dragao, a late replacement venue for the title match that was originally scheduled to be staged in Turkey.
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