Guardiola and Man City claim holy grail

Phil McNulty, chief football writer at Ataturk Olympic Stadium

The Champions League has brought suffering to Manchester City and Pep Guardiola – especially when they lost to Premier League rivals Chelsea in the 2021 final, But all the pain disappeared just before midnight on a sultry night in Istanbul.

City survived late anxiety, especially when Inter Milan substitute Romelu Lukaku headed straight at Ederson with the goal at his mercy, but there was an explosion of joy on the pitch and in the stands at Ataturk Stadium as they finally secured the giant trophy that has remained so elusively beyond their grasp for so long.

Guardiola said, whether it was fair or not, that his time at Manchester City would be judged on whether he was able to bring the Champions League to the club. Now that judgement can be made.

He who won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, and he will now be an iconic figure at City as well as at the La Liga giants.

It is a simple fact that many outside the Abu Dhabi-owned club will always view their triumph through the prism of the charges of 115 financial breaches brought against them by the Premier League, charges they fiercely deny.

For City’s owners, with Sheikh Mansour attending only his second game since taking control in 2008, this was the night they have planned for and the one when they finally claimed that holy grail.