Rodri’s 68th minute strike saw Manchester City snatch a historic treble with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in 2022-23 UEFA Champions League Final.
Rodri swept in from Bernardo Silva’s 68th minute cutback pass to seal a historic win for Man City, who became the first English team in 24 years to achieve the treble – having already won Premier League and FA Cup titles this season.
For manager, Pep Guardiola this success made him the first-ever manager to achieve an European treble twice, having previously achieved the feat in 2008-09 season witb Barcelona.
The result also meant that Man City secured their first-ever Champions League title after losing in their only previous appearance, back in 2021.
Inter Milan manager, Simone Inzaghi meanwhile suffered a first-ever defeat in a Cup Final in his managerial career across all cup competitions.
With a historic treble plus first European silverware in 53 years at stake, Man City made two changes from their FA Cup triumph over Manchester United, as Ederson made a planned return in goal in place of Stefan Ortega, whilst Kyle Walker’s back issue meant Nathan Ake replaced him in defence.
Inter Milan meanwhile made five changes from their Serie A win over Torino last weekend, with Robin Gosens and Romelu Lukaku amongst those dropped to the bench as Edin Dzeko, Nicolo Barella and Andre Onana were amonst five changes named in Inter’s line-up.
Inzaghi’s rotation of his Inter squad though saw the Italian team press high up City’s half of the pitch from the first whistle, which posed huge issues for Man City who were keen to dictate the match’s pace.
Bernardo Silva though created the first proper chance in the sixth minute for Man City, as he dribbled into the box from the right but curled his shot wide of the top-left corner.
Inter meanwhile struggled to create many clear-cut chances aside from Nicolo Barella, who won a 14th minute corner via Nathan Ake’s headed deflection but the set-piece came to nothing.
Such was Inter’s pressing intensity, Ederson almost gifted the Italians a 26th minute lead as his pass found Barella who rifled his shot wide of an unmarked goal.
Barely a minute after Ederson’s mistake, Kevin De Bruyne was able to play Haaland through into the box but the Norwegian’s shot was blocked by Andre Onana’s left hand as the Cameroonian goalkeeper made a crucial block.
De Bruyne’s rotten luck in Champions League Finals soon continued as he was substituted with a hamstring injury in the 36th minute, having previously gone off during City’s loss to Chelsea in 2021 with a facial injury on that occasion.
City though were able to finish the first-half on top despite struggling to carve out clear-cut chances, aside from Manuel Akanji’s long-range shot over the bar in injury-time as neither team broke the deadlock.
The start of the second half however saw little improvement in quality until Akanji played a poor backpass to Ederson in the 58th minute, which Lautaro Martinez pounced upon but Ederson blocked the Argentinean’s shot from a tight angle on the left side of the box.
Ruben Dias two minutes later headed over from City substitute, Phil Foden’s free-kick after the latter had been fouled by Barella around 25 yards from goal.
City thereafter continued to turn up the pressure and found their reward in the 68th minute, as a piece of quick interchange between Foden and Akanji saw Silva played through, from which he cut back for an incoming Rodri to smash in beyond Onana to put the Cityzens in front.
Inter Milan almost levelled twice in the space of seconds in the 70th minute as Federico Dimarco first headed a cross onto the crossbar, only to then head a rebound header onto Romelu Lukaku’s leg which bounced clear.
Foden almost wrapped up the treble for Man City in the 77th minute as he raced forward following a turn and aimed for the bottom right corner, only for Onana to make a well-timed block to keep Inter’s dreams alive.
Lukaku meanwhile missed a huge chance to force extra-time as he headed Robin Gosens’ 88th minute knockdown header onto Ederson’s left knee, which saw the Brazilian crucially block on the line to protect City’s lead ahead of five minutes of injury-time.
A wasteful strike from Barella and a late injury-time save from Ederson of Gosens’ header ultimately proved enough for Man City to wrap up a historic treble amidst emotional celebrations.
Speaking post-match to BT Sport, Rodri described the achievement as “emotional” and “a dream come true.”
The Spaniard proceeded to pay tribute to his teammates as he continued: “The last years we were so close. I just want to thank everyone.
“It wasn’t easy. What a team we faced, the way they defend and counter-attack.
“We gave everything. I wasn’t good in the first half, I was playing *curse word*.
“Finals are like this. You can’t expect to play well as always. Emotions and nerves are there.
“We competed like animals.”
On what this success means moving forward, Rodri added: “We want more. More ambition. It’s a dream. This moment will never happen again. We hope next year but we deserve to celebrate.”
Teams
Manchester City: Ederson, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, John Stones (Walker 82′), Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne (Foden 36′), Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland
Substitutes: Stefan Ortega, Scott Carson, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, Aymeric Laporte, Julian Alvarez, Sergio Gomez, Riyad Mahrez, Maximo Perrone, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis
Inter Milan: Andre Onana, Matteo Darmain (Mkhitaryan 84′), Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni (Gosens 76′), Denzel Dumfries (Bellanova 76′), Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Hakan Calhanoglu (D’Ambrosio 84′), Federico Dimarco, Edin Dzeko (Lukaku 57′), Lautaro Martinez
Substitutes: Samir Handanovic, Gagliardini, Stefan de Vrij, Robin Gosens, Joaquin Correa, Raoul Bellanova, Kristjan Asllani, Alex Cordaz, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Milan Skriniar, Romelu Lukaku
Referee – Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
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