ATATURK OLYMPIC STADIUM, ISTANBUL — A crestfallen Kevin De Bruyne dragged himself up off the turf, knowing his race was run. For Manchester City and their talismanic playmaker, it was all happening again in a Champions League final.
Two years ago in Porto, De Bruyne was left with a broken nose and orbital bone after an ugly collision with Antonio Rudiger. There was nothing as dramatic here as he pulled up after shooting at Andre Onana from 25 yards, but the worried murmuring from the City end at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium told its own story. Treble-chasing was supposed to be much more fun than this.
Throughout the build-up, going into another game as heavy favourites against a team playing a well-drilled 3-5-2, the message from the City camp was that it would be different this time. Facing Inter Milan in their second Champions League final would not be a repeat of Chelsea in their first.
Pep Guardiola spoke of the importance of being "stable" heading into finals, suggesting he had learned from the lesson of his XI that lined up without a specialist holding midfielder at Estadio do Dragao and produced a horribly disjointed display.
MORE: Full commentary, analysis and highlights from the Champions League final
He proved as good as his word when the teams were announced. Kyle Walker's omission was a talking point but there was nothing galaxy-brained in there. Inter do not have a flier like Vinicius Junior for one of Walker's special ops missions and the defensive unit of Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, John Stones and Nathan Ake saw off Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
The opening minutes were peculiar. City's problems with Inter's pressing shape. The brilliantly industrious midfield duo Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic were their heartbeat and Hakan Calhanoglu surprised City and Guardiola by pushing forward to stifle Rodri early on. However, Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva each passed up presentable half-chances.
A dreamy De Bruyne through ball for Haaland, who was off-balance as Onana impressively repelled his next attempt, was fresh in the memory when he left the action. It did nothing to account for City's jitters, which were more and more evident by the minute.
And what a way to do it! 😍#ManCity | #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/tNfoauJx5m
— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 10, 2023
Dias, who produced a towering performance at centre-back, spoke before the game of the moments of the season when the pressure is on being City's "sweet spot". Here, it seemed to be consuming them.
Guardiola frequently gesticulated that they should "calm down", although the only person in Istanbul less calm at that point was probably the owner of the building to the west of the stadium that was billowing smoke prior to kickoff.
For such an all-conquering team in the midst of a period of dominance unprecedented in their history, reaching halftime with the score at 0-0 felt like a timid target to set. But Kai Havertz's strike late in the first half in Porto killed City. Guardiola insisted he would remind his players they were not losing at 0-0 "because at 0-0 Italian teams think they are winning".
Inter almost were winning outright when a slip from Akanji let in Martinez, only for Ederson to produce a masterful piece of one-on-one goalkeeping. From that point it was City's newfound backbone that mapped out the path to victory.
For all the awesome creative talent at Guardiola's disposal, a song celebrating City's "best defence in Europe" has dominated the weekend in Istanbul. The locals will probably never want to hear "Rhythm Is A Dancer" by Snap again for as long as they live.
City's backline lived up to its billing, even if Stones doesn't really play there anymore as he Rolls Royces his way through the finest midfields. Ederson picked a handy time to have his best game of the season, while Akanji recovered from his lapse to set the winning moment in motion.
The Switzerland international slid a pass through to Bernardo Silva, whose low cross did not reach its intended target of Haaland. But for the first time all day at this logistical nightmare of a white elephant stadium, there was a little bit of space in the traffic. Rodri spied clear road ahead and motored onto the loose ball, firing beyond Onana and a cluster of Nerazzurri shirts.
Rodri being parked by Guardiola was the start of City's Porto undoing. Now, they are unimaginable without him. He dubbed his first-half performance "s***" afterwards but, after a few weeks of increasingly tired comparisons with Manchester United's 1998/99 treble winners, City have their own decisive hero patrolling central midfield and wearing No. 16.
What followed, save from one majestic piece of skill from Phil Foden, was utterly torrid for Europe's finest side. Sheikh Mansour hasn't attended a City game since 2010. He might leave it a couple of decades after watching Romelu Lukaku somehow fail to beat Ederson from point-blank range, having haplessly blocked a follow-up from Federico Dimarco after the wing-back sent a looping header against the bar.
There was still time for Ederson to fearlessly come through a congested area to claim a late set-piece and claw a header from Lukaku's fellow sub Robin Gosens to safety.
In stoppage time, the then-substituted Stones ran from the bench as if celebrating a goal when De Bruyne's replacement Foden thundered into a tackle. A man brought on to create was hailed for a well-placed piece of destruction. It was a symbol of how Guardiola has hardened up the soft centre that has undermined his teams so much since his second win in this competition with Barcelona back in 2011.
City won ugly in Istanbul with their best defence in Europe. Alongside Haaland's record-breaking arrival, it's been the most notable development of a supreme side this season, an area of weakness conquered to lay the ghosts of Porto to rest.
