On Manchester City's last visit to Stamford Bridge in February, Manuel Pellegrini underlined just how little the prospect of a heavy defeat to Chelsea meant to him.
Annoyed by a fixture schedule that required City to face the Blues in the FA Cup fifth round just three days before a Champions League round of 16 clash with Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, Pellegrini picked an XI featuring five academy prospects making their senior debuts.
A full-strength Chelsea side coasted to a 5-1 victory in what had been billed as the tie of the round, taking no special pride in the identity of their victims. Pellegrini had shown exactly where the FA Cup stood in his list of priorities, but his actions also carried greater significance.
They highlighted that, more than eight years after Sheikh Mansour's seismic takeover of City, the fixture had utterly failed to garner any resonance in east Manchester or west London.
When City return to Stamford Bridge on Saturday there will be little in the way of added spice. Both clubs' domestic struggles this season clearly don't help in this regard -- 10th against fourth rarely sets pulses racing. Chelsea are simply ticking off the final matches of a disastrous season, while their opponents can't help but be preoccupied by the possibility of a Champions League final in May.
Nor are any prematch fireworks expected from either manager. Guus Hiddink and Pellegrini are both deliberately soft-spoken and uncontroversial men. Only the return of Kevin De Bruyne, the type of world class talent so desperately needed at Chelsea a little more than two years after he was considered expendable by Jose Mourinho, offers a compelling subplot.
Yet in many ways Chelsea and City are natural rivals. Both shared the same path to success, surpassing the Premier League's traditional elite with vast spending bankrolled by generous foreign benefactors. Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour both want sustained dominance as well as immediate rewards, and have invested huge sums in infrastructure as well as players in an attempt to lay down the necessary foundations.
Chelsea and City now boast two of the most impressive youth academies in the world and their under-18 teams will contest the FA Youth Cup final later this month. Both clubs also fund the two most well-resourced and talented squads in the Women's Super League, who will contest an FA Women's Cup semifinal on Sunday.
City have even decided to emulate Chelsea's long-standing relationship with Vitesse Arnhem by agreeing a formal partnership with NAC Breda, meaning talented youngsters from both clubs could be competing against each other on loan at the top end of the Eredivisie in years to come.
But as striking as all of this is, no football rivalry has ever been forged along structural lines. In the absence of proximity or history, familiarity is what truly breeds contempt.
The modern enmity between Chelsea and Liverpool was generated in large part by a series of tense and often acrimonious battles in the latter stages of the Champions League. City, in contrast, are yet to face Chelsea in Europe; the highest-stakes match contested between the two clubs since 2008 was an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley in 2013 which City won 2-1. There have been several memorable Premier League encounters over the past eight years, but none sufficiently consequential or ill-tempered to spawn lasting tension.
Frank Lampard came closer than anyone to igniting the rivalry when he scored for 10-man City against Chelsea in September 2014, coming off the bench to send a bouncing shot beyond Thibaut Courtois in the 85th minute and secure a 1-1 draw that ended Jose Mourinho's perfect start to the season.
It was also the first of five Lampard goals in the Premier League between late September and Jan. 1 that helped secure 13 points for City, ensuring both clubs began 2015 separated only by goal difference at the top of the table.
Annoyed by a fixture schedule that required City to face the Blues in the FA Cup fifth round just three days before a Champions League round of 16 clash with Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, Pellegrini picked an XI featuring five academy prospects making their senior debuts.
A full-strength Chelsea side coasted to a 5-1 victory in what had been billed as the tie of the round, taking no special pride in the identity of their victims. Pellegrini had shown exactly where the FA Cup stood in his list of priorities, but his actions also carried greater significance.
They highlighted that, more than eight years after Sheikh Mansour's seismic takeover of City, the fixture had utterly failed to garner any resonance in east Manchester or west London.
When City return to Stamford Bridge on Saturday there will be little in the way of added spice. Both clubs' domestic struggles this season clearly don't help in this regard -- 10th against fourth rarely sets pulses racing. Chelsea are simply ticking off the final matches of a disastrous season, while their opponents can't help but be preoccupied by the possibility of a Champions League final in May.
Nor are any prematch fireworks expected from either manager. Guus Hiddink and Pellegrini are both deliberately soft-spoken and uncontroversial men. Only the return of Kevin De Bruyne, the type of world class talent so desperately needed at Chelsea a little more than two years after he was considered expendable by Jose Mourinho, offers a compelling subplot.
Yet in many ways Chelsea and City are natural rivals. Both shared the same path to success, surpassing the Premier League's traditional elite with vast spending bankrolled by generous foreign benefactors. Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour both want sustained dominance as well as immediate rewards, and have invested huge sums in infrastructure as well as players in an attempt to lay down the necessary foundations.
Chelsea and City now boast two of the most impressive youth academies in the world and their under-18 teams will contest the FA Youth Cup final later this month. Both clubs also fund the two most well-resourced and talented squads in the Women's Super League, who will contest an FA Women's Cup semifinal on Sunday.
City have even decided to emulate Chelsea's long-standing relationship with Vitesse Arnhem by agreeing a formal partnership with NAC Breda, meaning talented youngsters from both clubs could be competing against each other on loan at the top end of the Eredivisie in years to come.
But as striking as all of this is, no football rivalry has ever been forged along structural lines. In the absence of proximity or history, familiarity is what truly breeds contempt.
The modern enmity between Chelsea and Liverpool was generated in large part by a series of tense and often acrimonious battles in the latter stages of the Champions League. City, in contrast, are yet to face Chelsea in Europe; the highest-stakes match contested between the two clubs since 2008 was an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley in 2013 which City won 2-1. There have been several memorable Premier League encounters over the past eight years, but none sufficiently consequential or ill-tempered to spawn lasting tension.
Frank Lampard came closer than anyone to igniting the rivalry when he scored for 10-man City against Chelsea in September 2014, coming off the bench to send a bouncing shot beyond Thibaut Courtois in the 85th minute and secure a 1-1 draw that ended Jose Mourinho's perfect start to the season.
It was also the first of five Lampard goals in the Premier League between late September and Jan. 1 that helped secure 13 points for City, ensuring both clubs began 2015 separated only by goal difference at the top of the table.
All the ingredients were present for England's two nouveau riche powerhouses to finally battle head-to-head with a degree of genuine enmity. But it didn't happen. City's title defence crumbled by March and a tiring Chelsea were allowed to grind their way to a first Premier League crown since 2010 in relative comfort.
Lampard left Manchester the following summer, his stay too brief and the damage he inflicted too trivial for his final season in England to become any more than a slightly awkward footnote to his Stamford Bridge legacy.
There have been other potential flashpoints. City's hijacking of Chelsea's pursuit of Robinho in the summer of 2008; the personal tension between John Terry and Wayne Bridge that overshadowed City's 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge in February 2010; the mutual dislike between Mourinho and Pellegrini. None, however, have burned intensely or long enough to add a new dimension to this fixture.
Perhaps the arrivals of Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte next season will bring the required intensity. Despite their current struggles, both City and Chelsea are well placed to dominate the Premier League landscape again, with Manchester United still searching for a post-Sir Alex Ferguson identity, Arsenal stuck on repeat under Arsene Wenger and Leicester and Tottenham still to prove they can be long-term rivals.
Saturday will be nothing more than a clash between two of the Premier League's biggest underachievers.
But with a trip to Newcastle rather than Kiev to follow next week, at least Pellegrini should have no problem picking his strongest team.
Lampard left Manchester the following summer, his stay too brief and the damage he inflicted too trivial for his final season in England to become any more than a slightly awkward footnote to his Stamford Bridge legacy.
There have been other potential flashpoints. City's hijacking of Chelsea's pursuit of Robinho in the summer of 2008; the personal tension between John Terry and Wayne Bridge that overshadowed City's 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge in February 2010; the mutual dislike between Mourinho and Pellegrini. None, however, have burned intensely or long enough to add a new dimension to this fixture.
Perhaps the arrivals of Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte next season will bring the required intensity. Despite their current struggles, both City and Chelsea are well placed to dominate the Premier League landscape again, with Manchester United still searching for a post-Sir Alex Ferguson identity, Arsenal stuck on repeat under Arsene Wenger and Leicester and Tottenham still to prove they can be long-term rivals.
Saturday will be nothing more than a clash between two of the Premier League's biggest underachievers.
But with a trip to Newcastle rather than Kiev to follow next week, at least Pellegrini should have no problem picking his strongest team.
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