In many ways, Manchester City’s triumph in Istanbul was the end of a cycle for the club. After disappointment two years previously in the Champions League final against Chelsea, this time even owner Sheikh Mansour was in attendance for just his second-ever match to witness the Blues win the one major trophy that had always eluded them.
It had taken 15 years and over £1bn in investments, yet City had become not just the dominant force in English football but also, finally, kings of Europe.
In case that wasn’t enough, it had been achieved as the third and most spectacular leg of a Treble - an achievement only managed once before by an English team.
The sense of relief poured out of everybody connected to the club as the final whistle went at the Ataturk Stadium as fans and players alike gleefully celebrated completing something that they never dreamed was possible. “Seven years of fighting, we did it.