His signature Pep Guardiola entered widely – the bowl is raised wide at the base Manchester Saturday night at Ataturk in Polis.

Taking over the reins of the team at a very young age in 2018, Sheikh Mansour, a member of Dubai’s royal family and brother of the emir of this wealthy state, spent hundreds of millions of euros to take City out of Manchester United’s shadowanother big team in town, having beaten off just one: the Champions League trophy!

City’s 7 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups and 6 League Cups in those 15 years were, in his opinion, nothing more than an appetizer. Sheikh Mansour tasted the main dish last Saturday evening at the ever-reigning Vasilevus, making his first appearance at the stadium after a full 13 years to see his team play. And he tasted it not only because 7 years ago he chose the most suitable person to conquer it, but because she had the patience and perseverance to support him unconditionally even in difficult times, when in a few minutes the efforts of a whole year turned into dust and crumbled again and again.

Pep Guardiola kept the reality 😂 pic.twitter.com/AfdZTnMnVz

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) June 10, 2023

Pep Guardiola he took over City at the age of 45, already having a long career with huge successes on the Barcelona bench. In order to realize this grand goal and turn Manchester City into a fearsome team capable of competing at the highest level among European behemoths with heavy shirts and a huge legacy, he knew that the sheik’s big money was yes, while he was generously offered material. his responsibility was to put the pieces together and sew the suit of success.

Even for a manager who has come all this way twice, even for an English team of millions, the path to the top of the Champions League has never been wide open. Guardiola did well because he didn’t flex when he didn’t even go to the tap to drink water in the early years, he didn’t flex when he reached the final for the first time but lost to (no one figured out how) Chelsea, he didn’t flex and last year, when City had to accept and accept two Real Madrid goals in stoppage time, move the semi-final into extra time and surrender their weapons there in a match that looked like a total win. He had to stick to his own plan, his own ideas and principles, but at the same time adapt to the requirements of the modern era, an era completely different from the years he spent at Barcelona. It didn’t work the first time, but it worked, and this is very important …

Manchester City finally won the coveted trophy, although not as decisively as everyone expected, from Inter, who were clearly at least a notch lower in quality and value. With this success, City exorcised the ghosts and finally added a special weight that their shirt lacked, while Guardiola’s name added to a very private clubalong with the most successful managers in the history of football.

Even before he was 53 years old, Pep Guardiola conquered the city his third Champions League title after two he celebrated with Barcelona.. He thus becomes the sixth manager to win the “big ears cup” with two different teams, along with Jupp Heynckes (Real Madrid, Bayern Munich), José Mourinho (Porto, Inter), Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia D, Bayern), Ernst Happel (Feyenoord). , Hamburg) and Carlo Ancelotti (Milan, Real). He also became the third manager to win three, along with Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) and Bob Paisley (Liverpool). Carlos Ancelotti is in his class and has 4 trophies with AC Milan and Real Madrid.. Guardiola now also has a unique record: he is the first coach in football history to score two trebles, and even with two different teams!

There is another name in Guardiola’s shadow who joined a special club on Saturday. It’s in the title Scott Carson and it is logical that he does not remind the general public of anything, although he won two Champions Leagues. What is special about his case? He is the third goalkeeper for Manchester City and won the medal without playing a minute. In the organisation! He did the same thing back in 2005, this time wearing a Liverpool shirt. He again became the third goalkeeper in the “Loan” hierarchy and received the winner’s medal without playing a second! Coincidentally, Carson won both trophies in Istanbul and at the same Ataturk Stadium!

Other such interesting facts on the occasion of the City final are listed by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS):

• Manchester City are the second English team to win the treble after Manchester United in the 1998–99 season.
• This is the second time a team from the same city has won the trophy. Milan have achieved this with Milan and Inter, Manchester are also celebrating it with United and City.
• City are the 10th team to win the Champions League – Champions League undefeated. They were preceded by Milan, Ajax, Liverpool, twice Manchester United and once each Bayern, Barcelona, ​​Inter, Marseille, Red Star.
• Thanks to City’s success in English football, there are now six teams holding the Champions League – the Champions League (Manchester United, Liverpool, Nottingham, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Manchester City). Other countries are still far away, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands each have 3 conquests.
• Italy now holds a negative record. This is the first country to lose three European competitions in one season (Roma, Fiorentina, Inter).
• Italy overtook Germany to become the only country to have six coaches reach the Champions League final. Before Simone Inzaghi, there were Carlo Ancelotti, Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi, Roberto Di Matteo and Massimiliano Allegri.
• Kevin de Bruyne is the second player to be injured and substituted in two Champions League finals (2021 and 2023). The first was Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid, 2016 and 2018).
• Erling Haaland became the sixth Norwegian to win the Champions League after Steinar Pedersen (Borussia Dortmund in 1997), Henning Berg, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ronny Johnsen (with Manchester United in 1999) and John Arne Riese (with Liverpool). ” in 2005).
• City’s victory ended an impressive streak… Croatia! From 2013 until today, every team that won the Champions League had at least one Croatian player! If the trophy had been won by Inter and not City, the tradition would have continued as Marcelo Brozovic is involved. Be that as it may, Croatia’s record continued with the presence of its players in the Champions League final for 11 years in a row!