After 10 consecutive seasons of disappointment and close calls, Manchester City have made the Champions League final at last.
They booked their place after beating PSG 2-0 in the second-leg of their semi-final to complete a 4-1 victory on aggregate.
Photo via Reuters
That in itself is an impressive feat, considering PSG managed to knock out Barcelona and defending champions Bayern Munich in the earlier rounds.
This will be City’s first ever appearance in the Champions League final.
The furthest they’ve come before this was the semi-final in 2016…having failed to even make it past the quarterfinals in the past three seasons.
Guardiola on the verge of another milestone
When Pep Guardiola first took charge of Man City five seasons ago, he was given the specific mandate of breaking their Champions League jinx.
Photo via AS Sports
Domestically he has managed to guide City to a series of Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup titles, but European success always seemed elusive.
Now, Guardiola finds himself just 90 minutes away from bringing the Champions League trophy back to the Etihad…which would cement his status as the club’s greatest manager.
The Spaniard also has a good track record in title-deciders – he was on the winning side the last two occasions that he made the final with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.
What next?
Man City now await the winners of the other semi-final between Chelsea and Real Madrid.
The tie is finely-poised, with the Blues holding an away-goal advantage after their 1-all draw in Madrid last week.
Photo via The Guardian
A win for Chelsea, and it sets up a clash with Thomas Tuchel – a manager Guardiola will have done plenty of research on for the Premiership.
A Real Madrid win, meanwhile, will see Pep go up against another familiar name - Zinedine Zidane…himself a three-time Champions League winner.
Either way, all the signs are pointing towards a mouth-watering final in Istanbul on May 29th.
By: Nicholas Darren John
