A year ago
Pep Guardiola is visibly upset as Manchester City wins the Champions League to complete the hat trick.
The trophy was returned to the Etihad Stadium thanks to Rodri's lone goal.
As Pep Guardiola watched Manchester City eventually win the Champions League, he said, "This f****** trophy is so difficult to win."
The hard-fought 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in Istanbul thanks to a goal from Rodri brought the triple rivals Manchester United had won in 1999 to an end.
After the presentation, when asked how he was feeling, Guardiola responded to BT Sport, "Tired, calm, and satisfied of course. This trophy is f****** impossible to win. We were aware that it could not be different.
City were not playing at their most fluid level as Inter repeatedly frustrated them, but they eventually succeeded, much to the Spaniard's pleasure.
The treble tournament is extremely difficult to win, so he continued, "It doesn't matter how you get it; getting it is enough."
Despite dominating the first half, City was unable to overcome Inter, and they suffered a setback when key player Kevin De Bruyne hobbled off before the break.
However, Federico Dimarco struck the crossbar and Ederson made excellent saves from Romelu Lukaku and Robin Gosens before Rodri's lovely 68th-minute goal proved crucial and triggered frenzied celebrations on and off the field.
"At the end, Ederson, they could have drawn, and perhaps Phil [Foden] could have scored another goal," remarked Guardiola. The fact that we were present when the coin was tossed in this competition seems like it was fated for us to be there. This season is ours, and we made it happen.
The City manager said when asked what had changed for his team to finally advance in Europe's premier club competition: "I think we defend a little bit better in the box with our four central defenders, who are true defenders. Despite our faults, I believed we were a strong team.
"We didn't play a particularly poor game; we were a little jittery at the beginning, but overall it wasn't bad. With that momentum, we started winning the Premier League, the FA Cup, and now this finish."
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