Havertz rounded Ederson to score three minutes before half-time at the Estadio do Dragao and the Chelsea players ran to the far end of the pitch to celebrate with the German.

Coach Thomas Tuchel, full of energy on the touchline just like his opposite number, punched the air in celebration, and later jumped with joy on the pitch after Chelsea held on for victory in the second half as City lost distraught skipper Kevin De Bruyne to injury.

The London club may have finished fourth in the Premier League, a huge 19 points behind the champions City, but this, remarkably, was their third win over Guardiola’s side in six weeks.

They shattered City’s hopes of a domestic treble when they triumphed in the FA Cup semi-finals in April and then delayed their title celebrations with victory in Manchester.

Now, in a final watched by a limited crowd of just over 14,000 fans who created a raucous atmosphere, they have denied City the first Champions League crown they and Guardiola so crave.

Abramovich’s second European Cup

City have had to wait 13 years since being taken over by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour just to get to the Champions League final.

They are now the seventh consecutive team to lose in their first appearance at this stage. The same misfortune befell Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain last year as well as Tottenham Hotspur when they were beaten by Liverpool in the last all-English final in 2019.

Chelsea’s German defender Antonio Ruediger lifts the Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League final football match between Manchester City and Chelsea at the Dragao stadium in Porto on May 29, 2021. Manu Fernandez / POOL / AFP

Chelsea also lost when they first got to the final, succumbing on penalties against Manchester United in Moscow in 2008.

They overcame the final hurdle by beating Bayern Munich, also in a shoot-out, in 2012 and now they have their second European Cup to move level with Juventus, Benfica and Porto as well as another English side, Nottingham Forest.

Their transformation into one of Europe’s super clubs has been down to the riches of Roman Abramovich, their Russian oligarch owner who was in attendance at the game in Portugal.

Chelsea have been transformed since the appointment as coach in January of Tuchel, but City were still the favourites off the back of their third Premier League title triumph in four seasons.

Feeding off the energy of the crowd in a stadium that Portuguese authorities had allowed to be filled to a third of its capacity — all fans required negative Covid-19 tests to gain entry — both teams played with a level of intensity rarely seen in the last year of football in empty grounds.

Havertz’s marquee moment

City pressed high but struggled to trouble Edouard Mendy in the Chelsea goal, while at the other end Timo Werner should have done better than shoot straight at Ederson in the 14th minute.

Chelsea then suffered an injury blow as an emotional Thiago Silva was forced off hurt, Andreas Christensen taking the Brazilian’s place in central defence.

helsea’s German midfielder Kai Havertz (L) scores a goal past Manchester City’s Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson during the UEFA Champions League final football match between Manchester City and Chelsea FC at the Dragao stadium in Porto on May 29, 2021. Jose Coelho / POOL / AFP

Yet it was they who opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, Mason Mount’s ball splitting the City defence with John Stones out of position, allowing Havertz — their marquee 71 million-pound ($100m) signing last summer — to go around the lunging Ederson and convert into an empty net.

City now needed to break down a Chelsea defence that has been exceptional since Tuchel came in.

But they lost De Bruyne just before the hour mark, the brilliant Belgian taken out in a collision with Antonio Ruediger that appeared to leave him concussed.

He came off in tears, and Guardiola instead turned to Sergio Aguero for the latter stages, but there was to be no glorious send-off as a City player for the Argentine, even if a Riyad Mahrez shot sailed just over in the sixth minute of injury time.

There was also no third European Cup for Guardiola, who remains one adrift of the record for the coaches with most wins in the competition, held jointly by Bob Paisley, Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.

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A first-half brace from Sergio Aguero and goals from Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan saw City race into a 4-0 lead by half-time.

Aguero completed his hat-trick in the second half, before Sterling added City’s sixth.

Speaking at half-time of the embarrassing defeat, Carragher and Souness slammed the performances of defender Alonso and goalkeeper Kepa.

They blamed Alonso for City’s first goal, while Kepa did little to justify his world-record transfer fee for a goalkeeper, by failing to prevent two strikes from Aguero.

“It’s criminal from Alonso. So casual, four minutes into a big away game. You do not leave your post until [Eden] Hazard is back.

“Players of the quality of De Bruyne and Silva will punish them all day. He’s not switched on at all,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

Souness said: “Looking at a few of those challenges, it’s all so weak from Chelsea.

“This Aguero goal [his first] is a fabulous strike from a fantastic player and not such a fabulous goalkeeper.

“The ball ends up in the top corner, but that’s after he touches it. That for me is a shot he should save.”

Carragher added: “I agree with Graeme. [Former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut] Courtois saves that.

“The next goal just isn’t good enough from Kepa. He has to save it.

“He will improve but for the world-record fee for a goalkeeper, he has to do more in a Chelsea shirt, and that’s not just based on today.”

Chelsea have dropped to sixth in the Premier League, below Arsenal on goal difference.

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger effectively tried to start an auction by admitting he could sell Sanchez and midfielder Mesut Ozil in the winter window rather than lose £100m worth of talent for nothing when their contracts expire at season’s end.

Mirror Sport understands Sanchez has made up his mind to move to the Etihad, which leaves City in a strong position.

They failed with a deadline-day £60m offer for the 29-year-old in August and could yet sign him as a free agent, when the player would also get a more lucrative contract.

If City do move for Sanchez in January, it would be for a fraction of the money on offer in the summer.

His value could plummet to as little as £20m with just six months left on his contract.

Sanchez would also not be cup-tied for the Champions League — another attraction for City boss Pep Guardiola, who signed him for Barcelona in 2011.

Gunners chief Wenger appears to have played into City’s hands by admitting the Londoners might have to cut their losses on Sanchez and Ozil rather than lose them on frees.

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