Buxton: Tuchel's resolute Chelsea a threat to City’s Quadruple quest
Resolute Blues to provide stern challenge to Guardiola's side in FA Cup & Europe
Pep Guardiola's bid for total domination lies at the mercy of another tricky German.
Just when the Manchester City manager thought he had finally seen off Juergen Klopp's threat at Liverpool, three adversaries from his former Bundesliga parish soon emerged.
But it is not Edin Terzic at Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich's Hansi Flick that Guardiola should fear above all else as his Quadruple quest reaches its final reckoning.
Thomas Tuchel now poses the most formidable challenge to the trophy-hungry Catalan, both in the Champions League and FA Cup after Chelsea booked their place in the semi- finals of the latter courtesy of a perfunctory 2-0 win against Sheffield United last night.
| CHELSEA | SHEFFIELD UNITED |
| 2 | 0 |
| (Oliver Norwood 24-og, Hakim Ziyech 90+2) |
For all his justified self-confidence, Guardiola has legitimate reasons to fear Tuchel's blue army on dual fronts, starting with a likely Wembley showdown between them.
He may regret offering a ringing endorsement of the English Premier League in regular discussions with the former Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain boss prior to him succeeding Frank Lampard in the Stamford Bridge hot seat less than two months ago.
Their coaching philosophies remain highly distinguishable yet the draw for the penultimate stage of the world's most famous club cup competition could see the pair pitted against each other as genuine equals due to their embarrassment of riches.
Like City's own 2-0 win over Everton, Tuchel was also able to rotate heavily in making nine changes to his line-up before thrusting two Rolls-Royce attackers into the fray to cement Chelsea's lead, which was achieved by barely breaking their stride.
Fortune played a part, as a first-half corner from Mason Mount fell for Ben Chilwell on the edge the area to execute a low drive which Oliver Norwood turned into his own net.
Not that the Blades appeared in any real danger of upsetting the odds, even when they enjoyed a late spell of pinning back their hosts and peppering Kepa Arrizabalaga's goal.
Hakim Ziyech's thunderous half-volley in the throes of stoppage time merely reaffirmed Chelsea's dominance as they edged closer to a first piece of major silverware this season.
Winning without a core aesthetic may be sacrilege to a footballing purist like Guardiola, but Roman Abramovich probably could not care less.
TROPHIES
Last week, the Blues' benefactor pointed to 16 major trophies in 18 years as a personal vindication of his premiership.
Tuchel extending their unbeaten stretch to 14 matches in all competitions, similarly, will be considered further proof that the Russian was right to break Lampard’s emotional yet heavily flawed homecoming in favour of a manager whose detachment mirrors his own.
That sheer single-mindedness is the reason why City should dread Chelsea’s name coming out of the hat alongside their own in this morning’s FA Cup semi-final pairings.
In the Champions League, too, Tuchel has the potential to be Guardiola’s nemesis. The only saving grace is that he can avoid a head-to-head encounter until the final itself, with Uefa’s pairings ensuring that only Liverpool can face up to an all-English semi-final.
Guardiola must hope that Klopp and the Reds can do him a favour in Europe’s elite club competition. If they fail, a different shade of blue will be flying high on the continent.
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