Fifteen years after starting his ambitious and multi-million dollar project, the Manchester City finally has the precious ‘Orejona’. A goal from the Spanish Rodrigo Hernandezwith a ‘pass’ to the net among the tangle of Italian players, decided an anodyne final and handed over European glory to his compatriot Pep Guardiola, who can finally boast the third continental title in his record and a historic triplet for the english football.
The curse ended in this competition for Manchester City, who burst into joy when Rodri’s shot, with just over half an hour to go, kissed the net. A delicate shipment, to save the Inter players grouped in front of the goal, but with the power to want to break down once and for all the mental barrier of this team in the most important competition.
A wall against which the City was already crashing from the first minute, with an atypical imprecision, with nerves in all the lines and with an Ederson Moraes that could have cost the sheikh more than a displeasure -present for the second time in fifteen years in the stands-, but ended up as a hero.
Inter, tucked back, confident that they would fall against someone, came up with the plan for 60 minutes, in which they barely received a couple of clear chances, an angled shot from Bernardo Silva that went high and a mid-height shot from Erling Haaland who repelled André Onana. In addition, Hakan Calhanoglu forced the injury of Kevin de Bruyne, who was substituted in the 36th minute, recalling the painful memory of two years ago, when he retired early against Chelsea, also ailing.
And if the scheme did not work out better for Inter, it is because Lautaro Martínez did not take advantage of the clearest of his own until then. At 0-0, the Argentine took advantage of a misunderstanding between Bernardo and Akanji to plant himself, with little angle, in front of Ederson. He smashed his shot into the goalkeeper and City woke up.
Repeating the protagonists of the mistake, Akanji filtered the ball for Bernardo’s cut. The Portuguese, on the bottom line, put it as he could and bounced off a defender. While all the City players demanded a hand, Rodri set his eyes on the ball, placed the inside of his foot and dodged, almost making a magical zig zag, the bodies of the interistas. The ball entered and that scene that the Gallagher brothers have dreamed of for decades was triggered. A tide of light blue players on their way to the corner with open arms.
For the first time in history, City dominated a Champions League final. Nerves reappeared, as is logical, and Inter almost turned them into a draw. In a bizarre play, Federico Dimarco found himself with the ball in the air a meter from Ederson. He chipped the ball with his head and it bounced off the crossbar. He dropped dead again and tried his head again, but his teammate Lukaku got in the way of the ball.
The Belgian, who replaced Dzeko, still saved one more bullet, to the despair of his fans. In a lateral cross, Gosens extended the ball at the far post and Lukaku, two meters from the goal line, sent the ball straight to Ederson. The stop that the Brazilian goalkeeper needed in his career, without the mysticism of others, but with the point of luck and, above all, of importance, to decide a final.
City, fifteen years later, is European champion. Guardiola already has his third ‘Champions’ and City the second treble in the history of English football, equaling their neighbors United, who achieved it in 1999. The wait is over, City triumphed.