Manchester City completes treble run, wins Champions League

Chimeremeze FavourJun 10, 2023

Manchester City won the Champions League title for the first time by beating Inter Milan 1-0 at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium on Saturday, June 10.

Pep Guardiola’s team was far from their fluent best for long periods in the Ataturk Stadium, but they once again found a way to dig out a narrow victory to follow up their FA Cup triumph over Manchester United last weekend and end their long pursuit of Europe’s premier trophy.

The Citizens struggled to impose their usual, dominant game upon the Italians in a tight first half with Erling Haaland seeing their best effort well blocked by Andre Onana.

Guardiola’s frustration was then compounded when the Belgian star Kevin de Bruyne was forced to withdraw from the action for a second successive Champions League final after suffering a hamstring injury.

Spanish midfielder Rodri’s 68th-minute goal settled a cagey contest that a far-from-fluent City dominated but they never looked comfortable against the three-time winners.

Inter almost levelled at the death when a point-blank header by substitute Romelu Lukaku was saved by Ederson. City held on to lift their first European silverware since 1970.

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It completed a treble for City, making them the second English club to achieve the great feat as Manchester United also won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 1999.

While it is the first time City has won European soccer’s biggest club competition, it is the third time Pep Guardiola has lifted the trophy as a coach.

The victory means the club finally achieved its ambition of reaching the summit of European soccer, 15 years after Abu Dhabi’s ruling family transformed it into one of the richest teams in the world.

Owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan was in attendance to see City’s crowning moment. It was only the second time he has watched his team in person in 15 years.

Following the big win today, Guardiola is now the only coach to win a treble with two different sides, the first one being FC Barcelona in 2008/09. Guardiola also became the third-ever manager in the history of football to win the Champions League with two different teams.