Manchester City have done it! The English club won the UEFA Champions League by beating Inter Milan 1-0 at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul. The Citizens have entered the realm of Europe’s greats by winning the most esteemed trophy in continental club football and completed a historic Treble consisting of the UCL, the Premier League title and the FA Cup. What an achievement for Pep Guardiola and his team!Inter pushed City all the way despite being the underdogs, but Rodri’s second-half strike, combined with awful misses from Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez, gave the sky blues from Manchester the title they’ve been waiting for nearly 150 years – and have been gravitating towards over the past decade.Pep Guardiola is the first manager to win a treble twice:🏆 🏆 🏆 – Barcelona (2008/09)🏆 🏆 🏆 – Manchester City (2008/09)Historic. 👑 pic.twitter.com/Lm7p6668c3— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) June 10, 2023 Simone Inzaghi has won all seven of his cup finals with Lazio and Inter – and his side was considered underdogs in most of those games. It didn’t matter. It’s why his counterpart Guardiola and his players were urged not to underestimate the Italian team – even though all odds were favouring the English champions.But the game started with Inter’s steely resolve causing all sorts of problems for City. The pressing was relentless, the double block was disciplined and sharp – and the Premier League holders looked short on ideas. On the other end, Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries kept pushing on either flank, making life difficult for City’s back three consisting of Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake.2021: Kevin De Bruyne goes off injured in the Champions League final 2023: Kevin De Bruyne goes off injured in the Champions League final Football isn’t fair 💔 pic.twitter.com/URBhiwtBRA— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 10, 2023 Guardiola’s endured a heavy blow around the half-hour mark when Kevin De Bruyne went down holding his hamstring. He tried to play for a few more minutes, but the injury got the better of him. Just like in 2021, the Belgian ace had to come off in the UCL final through injury. Phil Foden came on.Everyone talked about Inter being vastly inferior in the game build-up, predicting that the Nerazzurri would be outclassed and destroyed. But on the pitch, it looked different.Pep Guardiola fully thought that Lautaro Martinez would score… 🫣#UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/ea9X9RoAOX— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 10, 2023 Lautaro Martinez was presented with a fantastic chance to get his team ahead, but he opted for a shot rather than a pass to the wide-open Romelu Lukaku, who had come on for the injured Edin Dzeko.City’s pressure resulted in the opening goal on 68 minutes. A typical move saw Akanji play a ball inside the box towards Bernardo Silva, who cut it back for Rodri to slam it into the net from just inside the box, with Andre Onana rooted to the spot and his view obstructed. That was the moment City fans had been waiting for since they lost to Chelsea two years ago.THIS MAN! 🤯#ManCity | #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/lf4A0dcPsV— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 10, 2023 Dimarco could have given his team parity within minutes of the opening goal, but he was unlucky with two headers in the space of two seconds. The first one bounced off Ederson’s crossbar and back to him. He tried another header, but Lukaku couldn’t get out of the way in time and thus helped the opponents.HUGE block from Lukaku to deny Di Marco. World class defending. pic.twitter.com/h5nNnBJciR— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) June 10, 2023 Foden had another chance to put the game beyond doubt as City began to exploit spaces left by the opposition. Inter had no time to waste any more as the final kept slipping away with every passing minute.Lukaku definitely won’t remember this game fondly. The Belgian attacker had a free header from just a few metres out, but he inexplicably headed the ball against the floor and into Ederson – when he had the whole goal at his mercy. Thousands of fans on either side had their head in their hands – neither set of supporters couldn’t believe the scoreline didn’t read 1-1 at that point.📸 – Lukaku with the biggest chance of the game in the 90th minute but Ederson denied him.. pic.twitter.com/77dkJj0j9g— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) June 10, 2023 City held on for five additional minutes and claimed the biggest win of the 143-year-long club history. The Cityzens are the champions of Europe!🚨🚨 Manchester City is officially the Champions League champion for the first time in its history 🔥pic.twitter.com/q1qDUoW0jw— 1OZZiil_11 (@1OZ101) June 10, 2023 City have now matched the achievement of their bitter city rivals Manchester United, who won the Treble in 1999 in a last-gasp victory over Bayern Munich in Barcelona. It comes after City had already secured the Premier League and FA Cup, by seeing off Arsenal in the league and Manchester United in last weekend’s Wembley showpiece.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEFinalSaturdayManchester City – Inter Milan 1-0 (0-0)/Rodri 68/
