Manchester City have achieved their ultimate dream of lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy for the first time in their history, defeating Inter Milan 1-0 in a nail-biting final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on Saturday night .
The decisive moment of the match came in the 67th minute, when City’s talisman Kevin De Bruyne ran onto a clever pass from Phil Foden and beat Inter keeper Samir Handanović with a cool finish.
Inter pushed hard for an equalizer, but were frustrated by some excellent saves from City’s Ederson, who recorded his sixth shutout of the competition.
The Nerazzurri also had a penalty claim turned down in the dying minutes, when Romelu Lukaku fell under a tackle from Rúben Dias, but the referee saw no foul.
City hung on to seal their first ever European Cup, adding to their Premier League and League Cup trophies this season. They also became the first English team to complete the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and Champions League in the same season.
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City’s boss Pep Guardiola claimed his third Champions League title, having won it twice with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011. He hailed his players for their display and commitment throughout the campaign.
“It’s a wonderful feeling. I’m so proud of this team. They have shown so much personality and quality. They deserve this moment. It’s been a long journey, but we never gave up. We always believed we could do it. This is for our fans, who have supported us all the way. We are very happy,” Guardiola said.
Inter’s coach Antonio Conte, who won the Champions League as a player with Juventus in 1996, congratulated City on their win and expressed his regret at missing out on the trophy.
“We have to accept the result. They were better than us today. They have a fantastic team and a fantastic coach. We gave our best, but it was not enough. We are sad, but we have to be proud of what we have done this season. We won the Serie A title after 11 years and we reached the Champions League final for the first time since 2010. We have to keep working hard and try again next year,” Conte said.Â
The final was attended by a full house of 76,000 fans at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, which hosted the Champions League final for the second time after 2005, when Liverpool beat AC Milan on penalties after a 3-3 draw . The kickoff time was 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
The UEFA Champions League is Europe’s premier club football tournament, featuring 32 teams from 15 countries in the group stage, followed by a knockout phase of 16 teams. The 2022/23 season was the 68th edition of the competition and the 31st since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs’ Cup to the UEFA Champions League .
