Manchester is fortunate to be home to two important footballing figures who have written many golden pages in English football history, yet for several decades the city has been in a state of great and unimaginable imbalance. One part, the red, was experiencing a state of absolute bliss and intoxication, experiencing days of triumph in the 27 years of Sir Alex Ferguson’s omnipotence, and at the same time the blue part of the city was suffocating and suffering.

Not only were Manchester City fans unable to look up, they watched as United celebrated championship after championship and clinched the top spot in the relevant list of achievements (which they achieved), with the 1998/99 season it is the most characteristic of the two opposite worlds in which the two clubs lived.

Everyone realizes it’s the season of greatest success for the Red Devils after they’ve pulled through everything in two weeks. They won the Premier League by beating Tottenham in their last home game (2-1 with an upset), the FA Cup by beating Nikos Dabizas Newcastle 2-0 and completed the trilogy by winning the Champions League with the shocking upset won against Bayern and the Golden Changes’ two goals, Solskjaer and Sheringham, in added time.

So the treble was the first in the history of football for an English team, with the Citizens playing in the third division of English football (Division Two) in the same period and saving the lot in… instead of one, what a surprise provided against Gillingham in the final of the playoffs to secure the coveted ticket to the first division (today’s championship).

But now everything seems different, the parts are almost all in place and there is only one thing missing to complete the big picture: winning the trophy. Looking more mature and confident than ever on the bench, Pep Guardiola is poised to win the third Champions League of his career and first in 12 years (to overtake Zidane in second place on the relevant list and only Ancelotti with four trophies overtake). The squad – now at the helm with alien Haaland – is fuller than ever and doesn’t appear to have the slightest weak spot.

Your stats are shocking and impressive

He’s proven it on all fronts in so many ways this season. By winning the double with 28 wins in 38 league games and 150 goals in all competitions (only the fourth time an English team has reached that number, with Manchester United having done so the previous three times), with Erling Haaland on 36 goals scored goals in the league (the first to reach such a number in a Premier League season) and 12 in the Champions League (most goals by an English player in one season), with Kevin De Bruyne recording 28 assists in all competitions .

Her strong will to climb to the top even showed throughout the season, because after the kazoo at the “Santiago Bernabeu” in last season’s semi-finals, she not only didn’t give up, but became tougher, more durable and more relentless. Result; Bumped through the group stage with three wins and one draw, then beat Leipzig 7-0 at the Etihad in the Round of 16 with Haaland’s five goals to cap a three-goal tally at Bayern at home (in the quarters) and four at home against Real (in the semifinals) and thus drives away the ghosts of the recent past.

Her record in these 12 games of this year’s Champions League is extremely impressive with 7 wins and 5 draws and she does not want to see her luck turn her back against Inter in her 13th game. She knows and feels that she is stronger than the Nerazzurri and that she excels in most areas but that doesn’t make her complacent as she has now had the bad experience of 2021 when she already had the title of favourite, but that wasn’t enough.

“We will give our best. What counts in the finals is how you behave in this game, not the story. Historically, Inter are better than us, but that doesn’t count in the final. We’re going to play 95 minutes where we have to be better than the opponent, that’s all that matters, being better in this game”, stressed Pep Guardiola before the final and he is absolutely right.

Inter’s three Champions Leagues, those of 1964, 1965 and 2010, will not be played on Saturday evening in Istanbul (June 10th, 10:00 p.m., COSMOTE SPORT 1 HD, MEGA), and the (unbelievably) not reached Champions League League games will not be played I’ve come a long way this season with the great and impressive company of Haaland, De Bruyne, Guidogan, Alvarez, Rodri and so many others.

The game has been divided between the two Gladiators from the start and Manchester City are favorites against Inter, but they know that underdogs in top club competition have also made their own histories and won’t say anything. The double he clinched was historic but the treble seems great as it will snatch United a first place they have held for 24 years and give them the lead. Accelerate even more and leave the competition miles behind. Inside and outside the borders.