Manchester City have won the Champions League and completed an historic treble thanks to Rodri’s second-half strike against Inter Milan.
Kyle Walker missed out on a place in the City starting line-up for the Champions League final against Inter Milan in Istanbul on Saturday.
The England full-back was a key part of the City side that closed out the domestic double but suffered an injury scare late in the closing minutes of the FA Cup final last weekend.
Walker did not feature in an open training session earlier in the week and, although the suggestion at the time was his absence was precautionary, his expected place in the side went to Nathan Ake. Ake was likely to start at left-back, with Manuel Akanji switching to right-back.
Ederson returned in goal for Stefan Ortega, but the side was otherwise the same one that started both semi-final legs against Real Madrid and against Manchester United at Wembley last Saturday.
Black smoke billowed over the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in the hours prior to kick-off due to a fire at a nearby factory but there was no suggestion it would affect the game.
Champions League final: Shock horror as Man City dominate combined XI with underdogs Inter
Fans started to arrive early at the ground, which is situated well outside the city centre, having apparently heeded advice to travel with plenty of time to spare due to Istanbul’s notorious traffic problems.
The City team bus had to navigate the congestion too and perhaps arrived later than ideal but was still at the stadium by 8.40pm local time, with the game due to start at 10pm.
Inter opted to field former City striker Edin Dzeko alongside World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez in their usual two-man attack, with Romelu Lukaku on the bench.
Former Manchester United forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who had been a doubt with a thigh injury, was also among the substitutes for the Serie A side.
After a slow start to the game, City suffered a serious blow 10 minutes before half-time when playmaker Kevin De Bruyne was forced off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
The Belgian had initially tried to run off the problem but was forced to admit defeat soon after was was replaced by Phil Foden.
It meant further Champions League final woe for De Bruyne after he left the field with a facial injury during City’s loss to Chelsea two years ago.
The first half ended without further major incident with the score 0-0. Neither side had seriously threatened.
City claimed the lead in the 68th minute with a fine strike from Rodri.
Akanji played Bernardo Silva into the area and his cut-back was deflected into the path of Rodri, who passed the ball into the net from just inside the area.
City had a scare just moments after going in front when a looping header from Federico Dimarco hit the bar. He then headed against team-mate Lukaku on the rebound.
Sports News
Positive Eye
