“Man City” approached the final in the status of an unconditional favorite. In the previous stages, he invariably smashed his opponents, but the British won all the major victories at home. Outside of Manchester, the Citizens did not win this playoff until the main game in Istanbul.

Another important detail that does not speak in favor of Man City is the statistics of Josep Guardiola in the Champions League after leaving Barcelona. The strongest coach of our time has not reached the main club trophy since 2011. Inter fans had to cheer themselves up with these facts, because the Milanese seemed to have no real chances.

City nerves and de Bruyne’s drama

Guardiola in previous years managed to establish himself as a crazy experimenter in the decisive matches of the Champions League. This time the Spaniard decided not to invent anything and put up a predictable squad. A relative surprise was the absence of Kyle Walker, one of the main characters in the epic semi-final against Real Madrid.

If in the return game with Madrid “City” hit with a killer start, nothing of the kind was observed in the debut of the final meeting. The favorite was noticeably nervous and did not create serious threats to the gates of Onana. In the first 45 minutes, the “townspeople” were remembered only by Bernardo Silva’s shot from the goalkeeper’s corner and Holland’s tight shot right at the goalkeeper.

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Inter did not create dangerous moments at all, but skillfully blocked all zones in their own half of the field and, at the slightest opportunity, tried to run away to the counterattack. The game didn’t go according to City’s scenario anyway, and then the chief designer of attacks, Kevin de Bruyne, got injured.

Two years ago, the Belgian left the field in tears in the final against Chelsea, but then he was at least able to play 60 minutes. This time, the red-haired wizard did not even make it to the break. De Bruyne, feeling uncomfortable, tried to continue the game, but in the end he still gave way to Phil Foden.

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The first half had little in common with the pre-start layouts: the underdog did not allow the favorite to do anything. Champions League finals debutant Simone Inzaghi’s team did a perfect job with all of Guardiola’s preparations. In the absence of de Bruyne, who scored an assistant double in the semi-final victory against Real Madrid, Pep’s task only became more difficult.

A very strange detective

In 2005, at Istanbul’s Atatürk Stadium, the English and Milan teams delivered the best Champions League final of the 21st century. This time, nothing like a thriller was observed. The genre was more like an unusual detective story, where it never came to a murder.

“Man City” could not bring the ball to the top scorer of the Premier League and Champions League Holland, and “Inter” continued to guard the mistake. At the end of an hour of the game, such tactics almost brought success after Akanji’s cut, but Lautaro Martinez was greedy and did not drive his partner into the penalty area.

Inzaghi’s bet worked as long as his team had the strength to contain City’s pressure. Even in the absence of de Bruyne, Manchester forced the opponent to spend strategic energy reserves. As a result, Inter faltered after a lightning attack, in which Bernardo played the main role. After his passage, the Portuguese otpasoval the ball under the blow of the attacking Rodri, who mercilessly discharged the cannon.

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Inter had nothing to lose after that. The Milanese went on the attack much more boldly and could very quickly recoup after connecting Dimarco, who first landed on the crossbar, and then on his partner.

Hero Ederson and loser Lukaku

The slippery score did not guarantee City’s peace of mind until the final whistle. Usually, in such a scenario, the conceding team sooner or later finds its chance. So it happened this time, when in the very ending Romelu Lukaku got a great chance to change everything. The Belgian hit point-blank after a canopy without the slightest resistance, but managed to hit right at Ederson.

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In the career of any great football player there is not only winning goals, but also a major miss. No doubt this moment will come to Lukaku in nightmares more than once. After such a Romelu better not to return to Milan, since this game was the last for him in the framework of the loan from Chelsea.

Ederson, on the other hand, rescued Man City once again in the sixth added minute, taking out the most difficult ball after hitting his head. As a result, in terms of expected goals, Inter surpassed the opponent twice (xG 2.07 vs. 0.93), but the statistics will hardly console the fans who left the stands in tears.

A dream come true

In recent years, a 1-0 score has become a fixture for Champions League finals. One goal was enough to win Bayern (2020), Chelsea (2021) and Real Madrid (2022). The emerging trend was not violated this time either. Man City, not without incident, managed to keep the winning score and for the first time in its history won the main club trophy. The fans of the team have been dreaming about it for more than a decade after the purchase of the club by Sheikh Mansour.

Guardiola had to wait about the same amount, who, after leaving Barcelona, ​​won eight league titles in Germany and England, but never got to the big-eared cup. Man City, led by Pep, managed to repeat Ferguson’s Manchester United achievement in 1999, which became the first English club to complete the treble: victory in the championship and the FA Cup, as well as the Champions League.

Champions League. The final

Manchester City (Manchester) – Inter (Milan) – 1: 0 (0:0)

Goal: Rodri, 68 (VIDEO).