Man City must avoid one Chelsea player to make amends for their FA Cup semi-final loss.
Is there a flaw in this Manchester City team? Chelsea has given an answer to that issue.
The Blues will face the London club in the Premier League on Saturday, looking to make amends for their FA Cup semi-final loss last month, but that game pales in comparison to the scheduled Champions League final between the two sides in May 29.
When the sides last met at Wembley, Pep Guardiola's exceptional record against Thomas Tuchel was broken - the Catalan had never lost in their five previous meetings - though it is worth remembering that City made several staff changes prior to that loss.
While it's fair to say Chelsea deserved to win, there was one player in Tuchel's team who caused City considerable problems and regularly posed a hazard, asking tough, awkward questions of City's defense on that afternoon.
Notably, at Wembley, Timo Werner exploited the vast areas between City's backlines with his electric pace, and the German's roaming runs in behind ultimately proved to be the Blues' undoing.
Werner finally latched on to a searching ball on the left side, splitting Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias before playing a pass through the helpless Zack Steffen for Hakim Ziyech to slot home.
The goal proved to be the game-winner, putting an end to the Quadruple dream for another year.
Although it's almost sacrilege to say that this conquering City side has a flaw, Chelsea's tactical blueprint was implemented flawlessly on that occasion, showing that Guardiola's side can be caught off guard when faced with a fast move to the counter-attack.
Werner, whose acceleration few players in the world can match, is the main player in encouraging such assaults, providing Chelsea with an outlet in large areas, which is exactly what the 25-year-old did with great success at Wembley.
Despite their lowly Premier League place, Leeds are another side that has troubled City on the counter-attack this season, coming away with three points at the Etihad with just two shots on goal, completing the smash and grab.
So, the Blues have shown signs of weakness in those situations, and they will undoubtedly have to learn from those losses.
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