London (TIP): Chelsea’s decision to fire a club legend suddenly doesn’t seem so callous after all. While Frank Lampard’s name has hardly been forgotten by the Chelsea fans — there were chants outside Stamford Bridge before kickoff last evening — new manager Thomas Tuchel is quickly creating his own legacy after leading the London club into the Champions League final against Manchester City.
Chelsea made record 13-time European Cup champions Real Madrid look ordinary as goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount sealed a 2-0 victory that ousted Madrid 3-1 on aggregate. Perhaps the stragglers leaving the bars near Stamford Bridge could hear the roar Tuchel let out on the field inside the empty stadium long after his players had departed the field. “I am very grateful to have this opportunity,” said Tuchel.
Man United book place in Europa League final despite defeat to Roma
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reached a major final as Manchester United manager for the first time after a 3-2 defeat to AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico was enough to earn his side an 8-5 aggregate win in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday, May 6.
United will face Villarreal in the final in Gdansk on May 26 after the Spaniards beat Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate.
Solskjaer had lost his last four semi-finals during his Old Trafford reign and despite Thursday’s defeat in Rome, the Norwegian’s side progressed comfortably thanks to last week’s commanding 6-2 first leg win.
“It’s a great achievement to get to the final. We didn’t win the game and that’s disappointing but we did the hard work in the first leg,” United captain Harry Maguire told BT Sport.
“We started the game a bit edgy. It was end-to-end like basketball and we gave them too many chances in second half. Now we’ve got to go to the final and win it.”
Edinson Cavani fired home a powerful finish after 39 minutes to open the scoring, but Roma found the net twice in the space of three second-half minutes through Edin Dzeko and Bryan Cristante to turn the game on its head.
United had goalkeeper David de Gea to thank for not going further behind as the Spaniard produced a string of superb saves.
