Manchester City secure first Champions League title to win treble

Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan holds aloft the Champions League trophy as the team celebrates after beating Inter Milan 1-0 at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on Saturday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Manchester City fought their way into the history books on Saturday with a scrappy win in Istanbul to secure their first-ever UEFA Champions League title and become the second Premier League side in history to win the treble.

City beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final at Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, abandoning their usual confidence and style for a surprisingly scrappy win as their status as obvious favorites was tested by a team with a significantly stronger European pedigree.

As Champions League finals go, there were very few fireworks. City lost Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne in the 35th minute, but Internazionale were unable to capitalize on that opening to create any real opportunities.

It was Rodri that finally pulled through for the Manchester side in the 68th minute, picking up a deflection and hammering it into the back of the net. That effort, one of only four shots on target for City, turned out to be the only thing that mattered.

But while it was a pretty unexciting evening on the pitch, it was the culmination of years of effort for City’s management and ownership.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester City, attended the game, only the second since he took over the club 15 years ago. He was joined by his brother, President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, indicating just how important the Champions League is to the club’s owners.

City have only one other European title, the 1970 European Cup, and have been unable to crack the competition despite winning seven Premier League titles, three FA Cups and six League Cups since the Emirati administration took over.

Saturday’s win potentially marks a turning point in that regard, proving that Pep Guardiola’s are not only the highest-earning team in Premier League history and the strongest domestically in a generation, but are also as competitive as anybody else on the European stage.

“This [expletive] trophy, it’s so difficult to win it,” Guardiola said after the game. “It’s a question of being patient and you have to be lucky.”

More importantly from a domestic perspective, it also makes City the second Premier League side to win a continental treble — Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League — after local rivals Manchester United in the 1998-99 season.

“It was written in the stars,” Guardiola said. “It belongs to us. We weren’t at our best level. After the World Cup the team made a step forward and we were there. It wasn’t our best performance.”

The Champions League final marks the end of the 2022-23 European season. City will be busy over the international break as they visit Korea to participate in this year’s Coupang Play Series in July.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]