Winning the Champions League for the first time, their story. Image | Source | Champions League
This Istanbul is not a miracle, but a story of overcoming obstacles and finally winning the Champions League title.
In the Champions League final that ended in the early hours of Beijing time on the 11th, Manchester City narrowly defeated Inter Milan 1-0, winning the Champions League trophy for the first time in team history!
Manchester City has achieved the great feat of winning the Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup this season.
Manchester City Champions League winning poster. Picture competition progress
The seemingly one-sided match before this match was actually completely unexpected.
Faced with the tough defense of Inter Milan, although Manchester City had control over the ball at the beginning, they didn't have many options and instead made frequent mistakes.
In the 25th minute, Manchester City passed the ball from the backcourt, and goalkeeper Edson passed it to Dias. He was intercepted by Inter Milan midfielder Barrela and then shot with a shot, but missed the goal more.
In the 27th minute, Manchester City finally launched a highly threatening attack, with Haaland breaking into the penalty area and shooting, which was saved by Inter Milan goalkeeper Onana.
In the 35th minute, Manchester City made matters worse as midfield core De Bruyne was substituted due to injury, and Foden came on as a substitute.
Yi Bian fought again. In the 58th minute, Manchester City made another huge mistake in the backcourt. Akangi and Edson conceded the ball to each other, but it was intercepted by Inter Milan striker Lautaro. Fortunately, Edson saved the ball.
In the 67th minute, Manchester City finally broke the deadlock! Rodriguez pushes and scores in the penalty area! Manchester City 1-0 Inter Milan.
In the 70th minute, Di Marco's header hit the crossbar, and Inter Milan almost equalized the score with great speed. In the 88th minute, Lukaku headed the ball and was blocked by Edson's leg in front of the goal, causing Inter Milan to miss another chance to equalize. In the final moments of the game, Inter Milan also had a chance to equalize the score.
In the end, Manchester City struggled to defeat Inter Milan 1-0 and won their first Champions League trophy.
Manchester City Champions League winning poster. Picture of the new king of football
In this season's Champions League, Manchester City has been very strong all the way. In the group stage, Manchester City won 4 games and drew 2, advancing as the top team in the group. Then they defeated RB Leipzig 8-1 in both legs, German powerhouse Bayern Munich 4-1 in both legs, and Real Madrid 5-1 in both legs.
Their record of 7 wins, 5 draws, and 0 losses paved the way for them to advance to the final. Coupled with a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in the final, Manchester City became the 15th team in the history of the Champions League to win with an unbeaten record.
Looking back at Manchester City's pursuit of the Champions League championship over the years, it has been quite bumpy and difficult.
In the quarter finals of the 2019-2020 UEFA Champions League, Manchester City suffered a devastating defeat and were eliminated by Lyon with a score of 1:3.
In the 2020-2021 UEFA Champions League final, Manchester City lost 0-1 to Chelsea and missed the championship.
Last season, Manchester City was also close to winning the Champions League trophy, but they were knocked back by Real Madrid in the penalty shootout of the semi-finals.
Guardiola reigns as king
Having failed to win the Champions League multiple times before, he has become a dream for coach Guardiola and Manchester City.
In fact, since Guardiola became the head coach of Manchester City in 2016, he has always held a good card, leading the team to win 5 Premier League championships, 2 FA Cup championships, 4 League Cup championships, and 2 Community Shield championships, but he has been unable to make a breakthrough in the Champions League.
Especially in the 2020-2021 UEFA Champions League final, when Manchester City lost 0-1 to Chelsea, Guardiola's chosen tactics were highly questioned by the outside world.
Under constant pursuit, Guardiola and Manchester City did not disappoint this time. Although the final process did not go as planned, fortunately the result was perfect.
As a result, Manchester City achieved the "treble" of the Champions League, Premier League, and English FA Cup this season. Guardiola has also achieved the feat of leading the team to win the Champions League three times in his coaching career. Previously, he led Barcelona to win the Champions League in 2009 and 2011.
The UEFA Champions League final venue in Istanbul failed to recreate the thrilling and thrilling football miracle story this time, but the story of the new king being crowned as he wished and coach Guardiola leading the team to break the dream is also perfect enough.