KINGS OF EUROPE: CHELSEA BEATS MAN CITY TO TAKE CL

As Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta cradled the European Cup before thrusting it into the air to the backdrop of fireworks, Pep Guardiola and his distraught Manchester City players stood way behind the winner’s rostrum and looked on in anguish.

Champions League glory once again for Chelsea, nine years after its first title and just 123 days after manager

Thomas Tuchel’s seasonchanging arrival at the club.

Yet more misery in world soccer’s biggest club competition for City and Guardiola, its genius manager whose overthinking proved costly once more.

Germany forward Kai Havertz’s 42nd-minute goal earned Chelsea a surprisingly comfortable 1-0 win in Porto, Portugal, in the Champions League’s third all-english final on Saturday.

That the last match of a club season heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic was settled by a goal from Havertz felt apt, given he suffered badly after contracting the disease midway through his first year at the club having signed for nearly $100 million.

He has recovered to play a big role in Chelsea’s end to the season, and showed why the club made him the centerpiece of their $300 million spending spree last offseason in the way he ran onto a through-ball by Mason Mount, rounded goalkeeper Ederson Moraes and rolled the ball into an empty net.

“I really don’t know what to say,” Havertz said. “I waited a long time for this.”

As for his fellow German, Tuchel, he only had to wait one season to get over the disappointment of losing the 2020 final when in charge of Paris Saint-germain. Fired by PSG in December, he was hired by Chelsea a month later to resuscitate a team that had lost its way — and had dropped to ninth in the Premier League — and has delivered a Champions League title four months later.

Starting without a striker was expected — Guardiola has preferred that in the Champions League knockout matches — but going without a specialist holding midfielder in Fernandinho or Rodri was a major surprise and destabilized City.

Brentford earns promotion

Brentford reached the Premier League for the first time by beating Swansea 2-0 in the Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

The west London club scored two early goals and held on against 10-man Swansea to join Norwich and Watford in promotion to the Premier League next season. Brentford hasn’t played in the top flight since 1947.