A German to England

 England has announced its new national team manager after the resignation of Gareth Southgate, who in my opinion was the most successful manager England has ever had.

The new manager is a German, which not many years ago would have been thought impossible given the rivalry that at least the English feel they have with Germany. It is none other than Thomas Tuchel, who also appeared to be one of the favourites alongside Pep Guardiola.

Tuchel has significant experience with clubs, having won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021. Although he won the league titles with both PSG and Bayern Munich, this was not considered enough for these two ambitious clubs.

But managing a national team is a completely different thing than a club, and in particular a side like England, with huge expectations and pressure, but also a long list of talented players. He will be the third foreign manager following Fabio Capello and the recently deceased Sven Goran Eriksson, both who came in with an impressive club record, but disappointed as England managers.

It will be interesting to see what a German can do with England

Chelsea triumph

The season 2020-21 did not start well for Chelsea, who fired manager Frank Lampard in January, and then contracted the German Thomas Tuchel. Under Tuchel the team has changed: they ended fourth in the league and made it to the FA Cup final, but today they took the biggest title of them all: the Champions league title, defeating the Premier League champions of Manchester City 1-0 in Porto.

The situation can be compared to the last time Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012, when Roberto Di Matteo took management over in mid-season, and went on to win both the Champions League and the FA Cup. Tuchel's success also carries a message to his former employer of Paris St. Germain, who fired him mid-season. Paris St. Germain were eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester City, and were pushed aside from the French title by little Lille, only to see their former manager take the CL title .

Personally I must say that Chelsea is not the most lovable club. Nevertheless, Tuchel has built up a very likable team of young players, and I am happy for players like N'golo Kanté, Andreas Christensen, Christian Pulisic and Edouard Mendy. They fully deserve the title and the glory that they have conquered today.

All-English final

After the second leg of the Champions League semifinals we have the finalists: Manchester City and Chelsea.

In my opinion, the best teams also made it to the final.

Manchester City will play their first CL final ever; something they have been trying for years. They were the better team in the second leg, by far, against a poor Paris St. Germain side that without Mbappe looked rather ordinary and a bitter bad loser. Initially I would have hoped to see them in the final, but in the end I was happy it was Manchester City.

Chelsea is the unexpected finalist, but since Thomas Tuchel took over as manager, the team seems transformed and it cannot be discounted at all that they can go all the way. After 1-1 in Madrid, the second leg in London was a good match: Real Madrid went for their chance, but a solid defense and splendid Edouard Mendy kept them away. Timo Werner brought the Londoners ahead in the first half, while Mason Mount made it 2-0 at the end of the match. Chelsea was solid, and their midfield-machine, Ngolo Kante, was truly fantastic, and if he plays as well in the final Chelsea will, in my view, be a slight favourite to take the title.

Manchester City is likely to win the Premier League, while Chelsea is in the FA Cup final (against Leicester), after defeating Manchester City. The sides will also face one another in the Premier League next weekend, so the rivalry of the year seems to be between these two English sides!