Simone Inzaghi’s team were a surprise finalist but this is not exactly one of Europe’s lightweights.
Internazionale took the courageous option to try to probe City for errors and they got much closer than many expected. With this man in charge of his team, the chances of suffering some great unplanned-for embarrassment was unlikely in the extreme. That was no doubt why Sheikh Mansour found the time to attend. Guardiola’s third Champions League title, his second domestic treble 14 years after the first with Barcelona, was executed by his players according to the agreed strategy. There was a great late chance for Inter’s Romelu Lukaku which he steered into exactly the spot that Ederson could save.Įven great teams can fall at the last yet although there were only a few moments of doubt for City. There was an early injury for Kevin De Bruyne that forced him out another final amid a poor first half for City. This final had some of the jeopardy that finals are supposed to have. Yet with every trophy, each resetting of the geopolitical order, City feel more powerful. This is not a glory story without its caveats. There is still the book of Premier League’s 115 charges against them, the replaying of the case that Uefa could not make stick three years ago. It felt inevitable with this team – if not now then soon. They found themselves at the perfect confluence of money, politics and power and the talent that it can bring, and now they have their own treble. The 21st century has been much kinder to City. Twenty-four years have passed since Ferguson’s thrilling win at the Nou Camp in the same year that City emerged from the third tier. Guardiola has won it all now for his bosses in the Gulf. They rode it out and then in the minutes before Rodri’s goal you could hear the distant rumble of another City victory. This was more memorable for not being the perfectly grooved, unstoppable City performance, but they also have a solution for those nights. But he was here this time to see the final conquering, this time of Internazionale, who put up a splendid fight until the ball broke loose in the box on 68 minutes and Rodri swept it home to remind everyone this is how it usually goes. In all that time, their mysterious benefactor from Abu Dhabi has only found time to watch his creation once before this night on the outskirts of Istanbul. They have already been champions of England seven times in 12 years and now Pep Guardiola’s team have repeated the epic 1999 single-season achievement of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United – Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League. Fifteen years to reorder the game, defeat Uefa at their own regulatory game and build a team that no-one else can beat. The clock stops, the curtain falls, the last pillar of resistance falls: football belongs to Abu Dhabi’s club in the east of Manchester for now at least. There are not many fans who turn up for only the second game of their supporting lives and watch their club seal the greatest treble with Europe’s greatest club prize, but then Sheikh Mansour has sunk the best part of £2 billion into Manchester City, and perhaps even more. By Sam Wallace, Chief Football Writer at the Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul
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