The wait is over and the dream has come true! Manchester City had swept away everything that stood in their way in recent years, winning league after league, but there was always one ‘thorn in their side’, the Champions League trophy, which they had not won, and that was the great reluctance both for himself and for the other Pep Guardiola.

In 2021 he reached the final and was badly injured by Chelsea, but two years later he reached the tap and not only quenched his thirst but also got drunk with immense happiness. And that’s because she won 1-0 Inter and not only climbed to the top of Europe for the first time in its history, but also celebrated the conquest of an unimaginable treble.

The golden scorer for the Catalan maestro’s blue armada was Rodri with a fantastic right-footed cross from outside the box in the 68th minute. Inter fought valiantly and had great chances to equalize with Dimarco and Lukaku but missed the net and failed to win the fourth trophy in their history in the first final since 2010.

The match

Pep Guardiola opted for a 3-4-2-1 formation with a back three of Akanji, Ruben Dias and Ake, Stones supporting Rodris in the axis behind De Bruyne and Guidogan and Haaland leading the attack with Bernardo Silva and Grillis in the “wings”.

Simone Inzaghi, on the other hand, stuck to his favorite 3-5-2: an Italian three-pointer in defense with Darmian, Acerbi and Bastoni, an overloaded midfield with Dumfries, Dimarco (wing), Barela, Brozovic and Calhanoglou (more central) and Duo Lautaro and Dzeko in the line of scrimmage.

The first notable chance of the final came in the 6th minute when Bernardo Silva burst into the penalty area from the right and volleyed the ball just wide of the target with a diagonal volley (with Dimarco in front of him), but that phase wasn’t enough to save open the ball increase the tempo.

In contrast, the pace remained particularly low in the first 25 minutes, with England doubles having over 60% of the ball but struggling to get into shooting positions and threaten, with Inter’s players serving well on their part. The defensive plan drawn up by Simone Inzaghi.

The ranks were very narrow, the Nerazzurri closed the spaces very well and didn’t leave De Bruyne and Haaland any free space, but simply tried to threaten with quick tackles or steals near the city area.

A long-range shot from Brozovic (missed) and a lob from outside the box by Barela were just Inter’s attempts at goodwill, with Manchester City having their first real chance to open the scoring in the 27th minute. Then, when the top ‘waiter’ of this year’s Champions League, Kevin De Bruyne (12 assists), pulled off an excellent vertical pass on Haaland’s play, with the Norwegian powering into the box and taking the shot, and Onana making a difficult save with the hand fended off.

That phase gave City some breathing room, who upped the tempo for five minutes and pressed every three or so on opponents’ frames, but then an event ensued that mentally ‘crushed’ the English after their conductor Kevin De Bruyne suffered a muscle injury and had to be substituted in the 36th minute to relive the nightmare of the 2021 Champions League final (he was then eliminated with a slap in the face in the 60th minute).

What is certain is that the momentum City had taken went to…Brondo, with Inter level until the end of the first half, resulting in Guardiola’s side being meaningless 61-39 in terms of possession and the two Both teams have played 4 finals each and have poor numbers in terms of both xgoals (0.36 City – 0.21 Inter) and contacts in opposing territory (9-4).

City had the ball at their feet early in the second half but couldn’t find any holes in the Italians’ solid defensive wall. Inter made their first substitution in the 57th minute when Lukaku came on for Dzeko and two minutes later Dzeko had her first good moment in the final.

This was due to a serious mistake by Akanji, who let the ball pass after a spin from Grealish, allowing Lautaro to become its owner and enter the penalty area, only for Ederson to block his field of view and body-defend his shot from the Argentine world champion at a very difficult angle .

This phase did not worry the English, who took the reins again and, after a few minutes of pressure on the Milanese, scored the desired goal with a great team effort. Akanji’s vertical pass in the 69th minute to Bernardo Silva, the Portuguese converted it superbly from the edge of the box and Rodri found a fantastic spot with his right to leave Onanas at a statue and make it 1-0 with the second goal of the year to achieve Champions League and No. 151 for City this season in all competitions.

That goal sent the 20,000 City fans into a frenzy, but two minutes later something similar could have happened in the area where the Inter fans were sitting as their side missed their biggest chance yet.

In stoppage time and… in the panic in the English box, Dumfries pushed his way into the box, the ball slammed and went up, Dimarco took the high-hanging header and sent the ball to the bar to try and score for the second time , deflecting the rebound, but Lukaku accidentally saves with his foot.

The game was in full swing, Lukaku failed to beat Ederson with a shot in the 73rd minute and Foden had the next big moment in the 78th minute when he took the lead from inside the box after an impressive individual effort , but was stopped by Onana.

But that was not the end of the excitement as in the closing stages of the 90th minute, when City imperceptibly pulled back to maintain their 1-0 lead, Inter took a massive lead and had a huge chance in the 88th minute on the balance.

It didn’t come to that, however, after Gozens’ header towards the small area, Lukaku took over the header, but the ball landed at the foot of the standing Ederson in the middle of the goal and then, with help, went to Ruben Dias’ corner.

The five minutes of added time were even more dramatic and exciting, and the final was similar: Inter pushed hard and still had a good chance to equalize and send the game into extra time, but Ederson’s header was lost by Gozens made an impressive save 90+6′ and maintained his goal of staying 1-0 and signing the first Champions League win in Citizens’ history with gold letters.

• MANCHESTER CITY: Ederson, Stones (82′ Walker), Ruben Diaz, Ake, Akanji, Rodri, Guidogan, De Bruyne (36′ Foden) Bernardo Silva, Haaland, Grealish
• INTER: Onana, Darmian (D’Ambrosio), Acerbi, Bastoni (76′ Gozens), Dumfries (76′ Belanova), Tsalkhanoglou (84′ Mikitarian), Barela, Brozovic, Dimarco, Martines, Dzeko (57′ Lukaku)