Rodri was the unlikely hero as Manchester City completed a sensational season by beating Inter Milan 1-0 to win the Champions League for the first time and clinch a historic treble on Saturday at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.
Spanish midfielder Rodri’s 68th-minute goal settled a cagey contest that City dominated.
Eurosport reports that the Citizens struggled to impose their usual, dominant game upon the Italians in a tight first half with Erling Haaland seeing their best effort well blocked by Andre Onana.
Guardiola’s frustration was then compounded when the inspirational Kevin de Bruyne was forced to withdraw from the action for a second successive Champions League final after appearing to injure his hamstring.
The pattern continued following the break but after Lautaro Martinez went close for the Italians, the Citizens broke the deadlock when Rodri guided a sweet strike into the corner on 68 minutes.
Federico Dimarco should have equalised two minutes later for the Nerazzurri but his looping header hit the crossbar with his follow-up inadvertently blocked by his team-mate Romelu Lukaku.
Simone Inzaghi’s men pushed late on but could not find a goal to force extra time with Ederson making a remarkable late save from Lukaku and City held on to lift their first European silverware since 1970.
Mission accomplished for ‘special’ Guardiola. The former Barcelona and Bayern coach was brought to Man City in the summer of 2016. It’s not just job done, it also sees him cement his legend as the first-ever manager to win the club treble with two different clubs.
Man City’s Rodri is the player of the match.
Manchester City have scored 100+ goals more than they’ve conceded in three of the last five seasons (18-19, 21-22, 22-23) – prior to Pep Guardiola’s arrival, no English top-flight side had ever scored 100+ more than they had conceded in a single campaign.
Guardiola has won the treble for the second time in his managerial career, while he’s the first ever manager to do so with two different clubs (Barcelona in 2008-09 and Manchester City in 2022-23).
Manchester City have become the sixth English team to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, after Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest – twice as many sides than any other nation (3 – Germany, Italy and Netherlands).
