City wins first Champions League trophy

Manchester City finally took the Champions League trophy with a clean sheet against Inter Milan during the Champions League Finals inside Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.

The win also completed the Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup for Pep Guardiola and his side, joining arch-rivals Manchester United as the only second English club to achieve the feat after Rodri’s crisp 68^th minute strike settled attritional final.

Pep Guardiola knew there would always be an unspoken question mark about his time as Manchester City manager until the Champions League was won.

The supportive City fans inside Ataturk Stadium were optimistic as they kept a good spirit towards the game despite the fact that Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne left the field with an apparent hamstring injury during the first half.

The perception on his work would always be framed, unfairly or otherwise, around whether he could gain victory this competition adding to his two victories with Barcelona in the last in 2011.

The judgement can now be made. No further doubt can be cast on Guardiola’s greatness. A final high-pitched of Polish referee Szymon Marciniak’s whistle will have sounded like the sweetest harmony to Guardiola and Manchester City’s players. This was what they had worked and suffered for.

In his moment of triumph, Guardiola reacted with relative calm as he turned to make the long walk down the touchline, offering words of consolation to his Inter opposite number Simone Inzaghi.

No-one can escape the simple fact they are currently facing Premier League charges of 115 breaches of financial rules that many believe sully their glories. It will certainly enter the debate in coming days but it must also be stated that City deny the charges and will defend themselves vigorously.

As the golden glitter soared into the Turkish sky, Ilkay Gundogan held the silver trophy skyward. There was a glorious release, an emotional exchange between Guardiola, City’s players and fans – many of whom will remember the misery of long ago when this club spent a season in English football’s third tier in 1998-99 but still drew average attendances of almost 30,000 at Maine Road.

Kevin De Bruyne, who saw a second Champions League final cut cruelly short by injury, accepted this tournament had become both a dream and an obsession. The dream had been fulfilled. The obsession had disappeared

The day they desired for had finally arrived, City had reached three quarter-finals, two semi-finals and one final (which they lost 1-0 to Chelsea in 2021) in the Champions League prior to Saturday’s win, tears were shed as the awareness hit home.