Chelsea and Manchester City, two deep-pocketed titans of the English Premier League, will play for the biggest prize in European football on Saturday when they meet in the Champions League final in Porto, Portugal.

Chelsea, a serial collector of titles and trophies since 2003, have already won the competition once before, in 2012. Manchester City, a club that has only emerged in the last decade from the shadow of its more famous neighbor ( and much more decorated), Manchester United, play for the first time in the final.

This ignorance can bring nerves and intrigue. But new or old faces, everyone will be heading to the final with their eyes wide open to the stakes.

“If you win you are a hero,” Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne said this week. “If you lose, you are almost a failure.”

What time is the game?

Kick-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST. contrary to a few hours of kick-off, this one should be pretty specific.

How can I watch?

The game will be released in the United States by CBS Sports and on the Paramount + streaming application. If you prefer Spanish commentary, visit Univision or the TUDN application.

If you’re anywhere else in the world, check out this full list of broadcast partners on the UEFA website, which includes everything from RMC Sport (France) to Qazsport (Kazakhstan) to the beautifully named Silk Sport (Georgia). ).

Will there be fans inside the stadium?

Yes. Each club received an allowance of 6,000 tickets for the match, and organizers said the crowd would be limited to 16,500 – well below the 50,000-seat capacity at Porto’s Estádio do Dragão.

Chelsea returned 800 of their tickets, with supporters angrily claiming that strict UEFA rules had “intentionally prevented” enthusiastic fans from traveling.

Manchester City, on the other hand, announced this week that its owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi royal and the UAE Deputy Prime Minister, have graciously taken the travel note for the entire world.

What was the mood this week?

Tariq Panja of The Times sent this dispatch from Porto on Friday:

England fans started to arrive in small numbers throughout the week, and on Friday afternoon parts of the city were overrun with supporters from both teams.

A large group of Manchester City supporters became something of a draw for locals, drinking beer and singing songs in the sun at the bars that lined a bank of the Douro River, one of the main tourist spots in the city. city.

Fans were being watched closely by Portuguese police, who had to intervene the day before when some visitors were frustrated by local coronavirus restrictions which forced bars and restaurants to close before 10:30 p.m.

For many English visitors, the trip to Porto was the first time away from their country since it was recently reopened after one of the longest lockdowns in Europe.

Tell me something I can say to look smart today.

“The purchase of Rúben Dias changed everything for Manchester City, giving Pep Guardiola the quality he needed on defense to sustain this attack while she purrs.

“Sure, Christian Pulisic of Chelsea may become the first American to make the Champions League final today. But he will not be the first American to win it: this honor belongs to Jovan Kirovski, with Dortmund in 1997. “