Josep “Pep” Guardiola Sala and Manchester City have won the UEFA Champions League for the season 2022-2023.
Manchester City won the Champions League for the first time with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Internazionale Milan.
Despite having to depend on luck because Inter missed several second-half opportunities, Rodri’s goal in the 68th minute was enough for City to finally win the biggest trophy in club football.
Manchester City have joined the ranks of English clubs that have won the Champions League, including Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest.
Guardiola has a remarkable coaching record; no other coach in club football has won a treble in a season on multiple occasions with different teams.
In Guardiola’s first season with the Blaugrana’s first team and a historically significant treble, he won the triple with Barcelona in 2008-09, and eight years after being appointed in 2016-17, he won the Champions League to complete his second career treble at Manchester City.
Manchester City, the 2022–2023 European champions, have not lost in the Champions League, scoring 32 goals in 12 games while conceding five goals and going scoreless in two games.
Guardiola came close to winning his third Champions League with Manchester City but lost in the final to Chelsea in 2020–21.
There was heartbreak against Real Madrid in 2021–2022 when Los Blancos staged an incredible comeback to eliminate Guardiola’s team in the competition’s semi-final stage.
In an interview in which the Spanish coach delivered an emotional message on live television after winning his first Champions League title in 12 years, he also explained the difference between his squad and other squads in previous seasons.
Rio Ferdinand questioned Guardiola about the characteristics that set apart his treble-winning Manchester City squad from his other squads.
“I think we defend a little bit better in the box; we have four central defenders, and I think they were proper defenders. If we make mistakes, I think we have the feeling we are almost solid. We didn’t play a bad game,” Guardiola explained.
