Rio Ferdinand has heaped praise on Manchester City after they won the Champions League to end their season with a stunning treble, calling them ‘immortal’ and ‘out of this world’.
City came up against a surprisingly stern Inter team at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. And there will have been some concern among the City faithful after Kevin de Bruyne went down injured and had to be substituted in the 36th minute.
However, Spanish midfielder Rodri wrote his name in City history in the 68th minute by firing past Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana to break the deadlock.
There were some nervy moments for City as Inter left-back Federico Dimarco headed onto the crossbar before having a second attempt inadvertently blocked by team-mate Romelu Lukaku.
Then, in the 88th minute, Lukaku had a brilliant opportunity to equalise after substitute Robin Gosens rose tall from a cross to put the ball perfectly in his path and leave the goal gaping. However, the striker only managed to head into Ederson’s leg and Ruben Dias then cleared for a corner.
City held on to win 1-0 and lift the iconic Champions League trophy for the first time in their history. The triumph follows victories in the Premier League and FA Cup, marking an unbelievable treble for the club. Manchester United are the only other English team to have won the treble – involving a European trophy – in the modern era, having done so in 1999.
Reacting to his team’s history-making win, Guardiola told BT Sport: “Our chairman said ‘oh London is where next season’s final of the Champions League is’ and I won’t tell you my answer to him.
“Now is time to celebrate. I am looking forward to Monday afternoon in Manchester on our coach and three trophies [as part of a victory parade].”
Pep Guardiola requests credit for other trophy wins
“It is an honour for me to be alongside Sir Alex Ferguson. I got a message from him this morning and it is an honour [for us both to be treble-winners].
“People say I have to win trebles every season. I am a good manager, but no. I like this competition for the fact we won it, it is part of history and players will be remembered for the rest of their lives.
“But now give credit for the five Premier Leagues won in six years. It is important now that people don’t forget what we have done. Maybe they can create a museum so the fans can look at the trophies.”
Ferdinand, who was appearing on BT Sport’s coverage of the match, predicted City to honour the players by giving several of them statues outside of the Etihad.
“[They’re] immortal. Statues galore. They’ve earned it. This team have played a brand of football that is admired around the world,” he said (via Eurosport).
Man City are ‘out of this world’, says Rio Ferdinand
“This has been a project and a process for a long time, many years now since Pep Guardiola came in. But these players have produced some football that has been out of this world.
“As a collective, this team will go down in history. They deserve to. A fantastic team, and they’ve dug deep when they’ve needed to.”
The pundit added: “They have been able to play both sides of the game, and I think that has been the difference from this City team to past ones.
“They can pass, they can play the fairytale football but also when needed they can dig in, roll their sleeves up and fight through games as well.”
Meanwhile, a report in Spain claims Arsenal have begun talks over the signing of a top-class City star
