Manchester City completed the triple on a Saturday evening of frazzled nerves by defeating Inter Milan 1-0 to win the Champions League for the first time.
Rodri’s 68th-minute goal ended a cagey encounter at the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul that a far-from-fluent City dominated without ever appearing comfortable against the three-time winners from Italy.
Inter almost equalized at the death when Ederson saved a point-blank header from substitute Romelu Lukaku.
But City, who lost in the final to Chelsea two years ago, would not be denied.
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“Emotional. A dream comes real. These men around here have waited for who knows how many years. They deserve what we deserve, said Rodri.
By winning the Champions League, they equaled Manchester United’s 1999 treble of winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.
Pep Guardiola, the manager of City, has now won the Champions League three times, bringing his total number of trophies with City to 12.
However, against a tenacious Inter team that appeared capable of shocking the score, City’s play was far from fluid.
The first half saw City stifled, and their fans’ frazzled nerves at times brought them to near quiet.
When Kevin de Bruyne was injured, City struggled to make plays and were shaky defensively, but in the end, Rodri saved them.
The Spaniard stroked home Bernardo Silva’s cutback because Inter, for once, was unable to seal off the openings.
Even so, City had to play it out to the very end of a long season as Lautaro Martinez struck the crossbar for Inter and Romelu Lukaku was turned away by an outstanding Ederson save.
