City on cusp of greatness

ISTANBUL, June 9

Manchester City’s domination of the English football landscape is undisputed after another season of silverware-gathering under Pep Guardiola but against Inter Milan in tomorrow’s Champions League final they can finally become kings of the continent.

2 Manchester City will be playing in their second Champions League final in three years

1 For current coach Simone Inzaghi it is a first Champions League final, as is the case for all of his players

3 Inter conceded only three goals over the course of six matches in this year’s knockout stage

Guardiola delivered an 11th trophy in seven years to owner Sheikh Mansour when City beat Manchester United to win the FA Cup last weekend, having claimed a fifth Premier League title in six seasons a couple of weeks earlier.

Now only Inter stand in the way of a treble that would match Manchester United’s still unique feat of 1999.

Emulating that would go a long way in banishing any lingering sense of inferiority that became part of City’s DNA when they were stumbling out of the top-flight and their illustrious neighbours were all-conquering.

More pertinently, City’s Abu Dhabi owners would finally get their hands on the European trophy that their massive financial investment in the club since 2008 was designed to achieve.

City came close in 2021 when they misfired in the final against Chelsea in Porto — a defeat that still haunts Guardiola who is looking to win the trophy for a third time having taken Barcelona all the way in 2009 and 2011.

This time Guardiola is unlikely to be found wanting against an Inter side who few would have fancied reaching the final for the first time since they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in 2010. — Reuters