Manchester City beat Inter Milan 1-0 on Saturday to capture their first Champions League title and complete their quest to win a historic treble.
Rodri’s second-half goal was the difference in the tightly contested match, as the Spanish midfielder broke the deadlock in the 68th minute with an unstoppable strike inside the Inter box.
In conquering Europe, Manchester City became the 10th different team – and eighth different club – to claim a continental treble after winning the Premier League and FA Cup earlier this season.
“I’m emotional, it’s a dream come true. All these guys (the fans) around here waiting 20, 30, 40 years,” Rodri told BT Sport after the match. “I’ve been here just four years but we deserve it. We were so close these last years but when you go to semifinals, finals, finally God gives you this present … It’s a dream for all of us.”
Manchester City didn’t have a straightforward path to immortality.
Inter played inspiring football in their attempt to produce an unlikely win against a heavily favored Manchester City side at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
The Italians continuously disrupted City’s attempts to find a rhythm throughout the contest and employed an aggressive attacking scheme despite the threat posed by their opponents on the counter.
Though chances were few and far between in the opening 25 minutes, Ederson didn’t do his defense any favors after multiple gaffes invited pressure against City that Inter ultimately failed to capitalize on.
Erling Haaland came close to scoring with a close-range effort that Andre Onana saved before Manchester City suffered an injury blow at the half-hour mark. Star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne tried to play through a hamstring problem, but was replaced minutes later by Phil Foden.
After halftime, both sides continued to press for the opening goal. Inter came close after a miscommunication between Manuel Akanji and Ederson almost gifted a goal to Lautaro Martinez, whose shot from a tight angle was saved by the Brazilian goalkeeper.
With the prospect of extra time on the horizon, Manchester City struck with just over 20 minutes remaining. Akanji’s through ball to Bernardo Silva led to a cut-back that was deflected into the path of Rodri, who unleashed a powerful strike into the Inter goal before celebrating wildly with teammates.
An urgent Inter Milan tried desperately to score an equalizer after Rodri’s goal, with Romelu Lukaku coming agonizingly close in the 88th minute with a header from six yards that Ederson saved with his knee on the goal line.
The Manchester City goalkeeper was called into action again in injury time, making an important finger-tip save to maintain his team’s advantage seconds before the final whistle.
Rodri was named Man of the Match. Erling Haaland, who had 52 goals in all competitions this season, was held scoreless for the fifth game in a row to end his record-breaking first season at City.
Pep Guardiola now joins a select group of managers to win the Champions League title three times. Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, and Zinedine Zidane are the only other men’s coaches to accomplish the feat. The Spaniard also became the first men’s head coach to win multiple trebles in his career, having previously done so with Barcelona.
“We managed to win in Europe – suffering, but it’s normal. Sometimes you need this luck that we didn’t have in the past,” Guardiola said.
“This competition is a coin. It was written in the stars.”
Manchester City are the first English team to win such a treble since Manchester United in 1999.