Manchester City win Champions League against Inter Milan for historic treble

Anyone worried that Manchester City would wipe out Inter Milan like an AI-driven machine, but that didn’t happen. Here in Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium the machine went berserk. But City still secured their first Champions League, and a historic third trophy in a season, with an archetypal City goal, scored by Spaniard Rodri at the 68-minute mark.

Manager Pep Guardiola’s team deserved it for the season they had, also for that era, but not for tonight.

City’s problem was that they played almost the entire match without two of their main attacking threats. Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who was injured in the 2021 final against Chelsea, departed after 35 minutes. The big mystery was the 90-minute absence of centre-forward Erling Haaland.

The 22-year-old Norwegian dominated the season, scoring 52 goals in England. He won City the English title and the FA Cup. But against Inter, he played as if the team’s bus driver had mistakenly pulled his number nine shirt. Every time he touched the ball, he usually lost it, and he tested Inter keeper Andre Onana only once, firing a quick shot straight at him. Indeed, his sleepwalking performance recalled Brazilian Ronaldo’s lethargic night in the 1998 World Cup final. Haaland finished the season with one goal in his last eight matches. Was it exhaustion, or a lack of big-match temperament?

Before Abu Dhabi’s ruling family bought and funded the club in 2008, the city suffered from “City-itis” – a tendency to self-sabotage at crucial moments. What reappeared in Istanbul like a forgotten genetic defect, remarkable from a team that made Real Madrid look like the giants’ eleven in the semis. City owner Sheikh Mansour, who was watching his game in a competitive game for the first time since 2010, must be wondering what he is wasting his money on.

For Europe’s biggest club game, the atmosphere was overwhelming. At Ataturk’s huge bowl in outer Istanbul, the crowd sat far from the field, almost like an Eastern European field of the Cold War years. It seemed a sub-optimal location, especially as traffic jams forced thousands of fans to walk the last kilometer to the stadium along a highway.

The match turned into a rare moment when City lured the Italian defense out of position. On 68 minutes, Phil Foden, who had replaced De Bruyne, intelligently took defenders on his way away from the Inter goal. He then found Manuel Akanji, who played forward for Bernardo Silva, who placed the ball near the byline for Rodri to outrun – a typical City attack. Alone in space, the Spaniard took his time and fired low into the left-hand corner of Onana. UEFA rewarded Rodri with the Man of the Match award, although by his own account, in the first half, “I was talking rubbish to be honest”.

After going 1-0 up, a Guardiola team would in their usual form monopolize possession and frustrate any opposition fightback. Here City gave Inter time and again chances. Federico DiMarco curled a header over the crossbar over goalkeeper Ederson’s faltering hand, and Ederson pulled off an excellent save from Inter’s late substitute, Romelu Lukaku. Even on the last kick of the game, an Inter corner at the end of extra time, the Brazilian had to pull off an impossible stop. “It was probably a fifty-fifty game,” City captain Ilkay Gundogan admitted to TV channel BT Sport.

Winger Jack Grealish told the channel: “I was terrible but I don’t care. I’ve done the same thing my whole life. I said to the manager: ‘I want to thank you.’ He’s put that much faith in me. He’s a genius. That may be true, though not on tonight’s evidence.

The city’s cynics accuse the club of using “financial doping” to assemble this illustrious team. The Premier League has sent City to an independent commission to review more than 100 allegations of financial rule-breaking over almost a decade – charges the club denies.

City fans in Istanbul didn’t care. It was the biggest night in club history. Only one English team had previously won the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League – their neighbors Manchester United in 1999, the same year that City avoided relegation from the third tier of English football.

Some old fans will also be there for her, singing the traditional club anthem, Blue Moon.

Anyone worried that Manchester City would wipe out Inter Milan like an AI-driven machine, but that didn’t happen. Here in Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium the machine went berserk. But City still secured their first Champions League, and a historic third trophy in a season, with an archetypal City goal, scored by Spaniard Rodri at the 68-minute mark.

Manager Pep Guardiola’s team deserved it for the season they had, also for that era, but not for tonight.

City’s problem was that they played almost the entire match without two of their main attacking threats. Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who was injured in the 2021 final against Chelsea, departed after 35 minutes. The big mystery was the 90-minute absence of centre-forward Erling Haaland.

The 22-year-old Norwegian dominated the season, scoring 52 goals in England. He won City the English title and the FA Cup. But against Inter, he played as if the team’s bus driver had mistakenly pulled his number nine shirt. Every time he touched the ball, he usually lost it, and he tested Inter keeper Andre Onana only once, firing a quick shot straight at him. Indeed, his sleepwalking performance recalled Brazilian Ronaldo’s lethargic night in the 1998 World Cup final. Haaland finished the season with one goal in his last eight matches. Was it exhaustion, or a lack of big-match temperament?

Before Abu Dhabi’s ruling family bought and funded the club in 2008, the city suffered from “City-itis” – a tendency to self-sabotage at crucial moments. What reappeared in Istanbul like a forgotten genetic defect, remarkable from a team that made Real Madrid look like the giants’ eleven in the semis. City owner Sheikh Mansour, who was watching his game in a competitive game for the first time since 2010, must be wondering what he is wasting his money on.

For Europe’s biggest club game, the atmosphere was overwhelming. At Ataturk’s huge bowl in outer Istanbul, the crowd sat far from the field, almost like an Eastern European field of the Cold War years. It seemed a sub-optimal location, especially as traffic jams forced thousands of fans to walk the last kilometer to the stadium along a highway.

The match turned into a rare moment when City lured the Italian defense out of position. On 68 minutes, Phil Foden, who had replaced De Bruyne, intelligently took defenders on his way away from the Inter goal. He then found Manuel Akanji, who played forward for Bernardo Silva, who placed the ball near the byline for Rodri to outrun – a typical City attack. Alone in space, the Spaniard took his time and fired low into the left-hand corner of Onana. UEFA rewarded Rodri with the Man of the Match award, although by his own account, in the first half, “I was talking rubbish to be honest”.

After going 1-0 up, a Guardiola team would in their usual form monopolize possession and frustrate any opposition fightback. Here City gave Inter time and again chances. Federico DiMarco curled a header over the crossbar over goalkeeper Ederson’s faltering hand, and Ederson pulled off an excellent save from Inter’s late substitute, Romelu Lukaku. Even on the last kick of the game, an Inter corner at the end of extra time, the Brazilian had to pull off an impossible stop. “It was probably a fifty-fifty game,” City captain Ilkay Gundogan admitted to TV channel BT Sport.

Winger Jack Grealish told the channel: “I was terrible but I don’t care. I’ve done the same thing my whole life. I said to the manager: ‘I want to thank you.’ He’s put that much faith in me. He’s a genius. That may be true, though not on tonight’s evidence.

The city’s cynics accuse the club of using “financial doping” to assemble this illustrious team. The Premier League has sent City to an independent commission to review more than 100 allegations of financial rule-breaking over almost a decade – charges the club denies.

City fans in Istanbul didn’t care. It was the biggest night in club history. Only one English team had previously won the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League – their neighbors Manchester United in 1999, the same year that City avoided relegation from the third tier of English football.

Some old fans will also be there for her, singing the traditional club anthem, Blue Moon.