The “Cup with big ears” takes the plane to Manchester, while on the one to Milan they check in the awareness of a great European campaign and even some regrets.
– In Istanbul Manchester City and Inter create a final more psychological than football. A game that was not too pleasant for aesthetes was staged on a decidedly too wet lawn, in which the Nerazzurri showed the infamous ghosts to City, forcing Guardiola’s boys to play a game against their own nature. As often happens in situations like these they are decisive a collective distraction and a magic individual (find me a better adjective for Rodri’s surgical right, if you can). This is how Manchester City wins its first Champions League: a forgettable match on a memorable evening for a legendary team;
– On the charter that will leave tonight towards Milan, Simone Inzaghi’s team will definitely embark the awareness of an incredible European seasonbut the check-in will have to do it too a couple of regrets. Inter was indeed succeeded in the most complicated part of his diabolical plan and Guardiola’s too showy reactions to the ongoing game tell us that objectively we were channeled on the right track. The predator’s instinct was missing, especially at LuLa, but on the eve there were many who thought that tonight it was difficult even just to make a good impression;
– Tonight’s final also tells us that football is obviously picking up an increasingly theoretical turn, in which everything is now based on details, as happens for example in Formula 1 and MotoGP with set-up adjustments down to the last millimetre. The first half can be easily defined an acted football act, in which the 22 on the pitch seemed more attentive to respecting the ideas shared on the blackboard than to leaving their own distinctive mark on the match. For the purists there will be something to discuss (for example on how Inzaghi managed to keep the 4 City attacking midfielders playing with their backs to goal), in the meantime, however, Rodri’s surgical right foot and Lukaku’s misfortunes, on the other hand, reminded us That this remains an elusive game;
– In such a tense and blocked match it’s almost normal for there to be some more disappointing performance than great performance. Gundogan, for example, plays one of his worst games of the season and so does Calhanoglu, almost by osmosis in that area of the pitch. However, since this is the final act of a Champions League, we want to put the spotlight on best in the field and we mention two on each side: for the City John StonesGuardiola’s last masterpiece, e Ruben Dias, the real secret of Pep’s winning formula; for Inter Marcelo Brozóvicone who plays the finals as if he were in the park, and Frederick Dimarcoto the definitive maturity test;
– The last reasoning, as often happens to me, I would like to dedicate to the future. On these screens after the incredible semi-final second leg win 4-0 against Real Madrid, there was talk of a Manchester City that could find themselves afraid, like children when they are left in the dark as children. Today Pep Guardiola was very scared and he probably also transferred it to his boys. The ghosts were personified in Kevin De Bruyne’s injury (see final loss against Chelsea) and in a series of technical errors that are rarely seen in the span of a season at City. Inter, however, could have been a last vain hope for European football, because from tomorrow the Citizens will play without having to prove to the world that they know how to win and the prospect of opening a cycle is more than concrete.