Manchester City fans, players and Pep Guardiola might wake up this morning and wonder if last night was just a dream. It wasn’t, you are the champions of Europe and treble winners. You are icons of English football. For Guardiola, he has claimed the second treble of his career (Barcelona 2008-09) and he has finally got his hands on the Champions League title for the first time as City boss. It is the first European title he has won since winning it last with Barcelona in 2011.
As soon as he joined Manchester City in 2016, the brief was for him to secure the club their first Champions League title. It hasn’t been plain sailing. So much time and effort has gone into getting City to this monumental moment. After their final heartbreak in 2021 and semi-final collapse last year, this competition has served as the club’s Mount Everest. But like the iconic mountain, the Champions League has been overcome and now all those years of hard work have paid off.
Guardiola was a huge coup for the club seven years ago and while success was expected at City with or without him due to their vast wealth, their success over the past few years has all stemmed from him. He has completely changed English football by bringing his model of total football to these shores.
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Under the Spaniard’s charge, City have completely changed English football. We have seen many clubs trying to replicate their style of play. Not just to be entertaining but to deliver success as well. Marcelo Bielsa’s fanciful style got Leeds United back to the Premier League for the first time in 17 years. And more recently we have seen Guardiola’s former assistant, Mikel Arteta, starting to get up and running with Arsenal. There are so many similarities to the way the Gunners and City play, whether that be using centre-halves at right-back or having your full-backs drift centrally to play a midfield role in possession.
Guardiola has helped transform the concept of positional play too. How many times have we seen his City stars play in various positions and not once look lost? We’ve seen captain Ilkay Gundogan thrive as a six, an eight and a 10 when needed. Then there’s one of this year’s biggest sub-stories, John Stones. From centre-back to deep-lying midfielder, the Yorkshireman oozes composure wherever he plays - and he was outstanding in the Champions League final against Inter Milan.
The City team is filled with driven players, and it is filled with leaders, all of whom have been forged by Guardiola. Gundogan speaks with eloquence and his understanding of the game is outstanding, he might follow in the footsteps of Arteta, Xavi and Vincent Kompany in graduating from the Guardiola school of management.
By gaining his first European title for City and also his first in management away from Barcelona, Guardiola has led his side to 14 pieces of silverware in the past seven years of his reign, which is just simply incredible. Five of them have been Premier League titles, which in the modern landscape of English football is outstanding.
Each time City adds another trophy to their increasing cabinet, the Spanish coach celebrates it as though it is his first. He is not getting tired of the serial success at the Etihad Stadium. Many have long wondered if he would decide to move on once he made Man City the champions of Europe.
Unless he was to enjoy a long and well-earned retirement, what other club in Europe can offer him what he has at City? The infrastructure at the club is great from top to bottom. He’s revered by the supporters and the players. His team are by far the best in the country and their dominance doesn’t look to be letting up any time soon. And now they are officially the best in Europe, something they have been in everything but name for the past few years.
As long as his enthusiasm continues, he will look to win trophy after trophy as City boss. What’s better than him winning the Champions League and securing the treble? Winning a second Champions League and a second treble. Guardiola signed a contract extension in November, extending his tenure into a ninth season. If that isn’t an indication of his commitment to making this club as successful as it can be, what is?
With a Champions League trophy on the board, this can now act as a springboard for them in the competition moving forward. They will always be one of the favourites every year and now that they have that crucial winning experience, Guardiola could certainly conjure up a European dynasty with Manchester City - he and his players are just that good.
