Man City set for era of European dominance following Champions League victory

Sergio Aguero would not have been anywhere else. Manchester City’s all-time record goalscorer, still ebullient in this, the second year since his sudden retirement, wanted to witness, live in Istanbul, his old club’s crowning moment.

It sort of closed a circle. Aguero will always have his statue at the Etihad, always have the memory and the vivid soundtrack of the goal that dramatically sealed the first of City’s Premier League titles.

He will always have the love of the City supporters he was among in the Ataturk Stadium. But the last of his 390 matches in a City jersey had left something unfulfilled.

Aguero’s farewell to City was as a late substitute, bought on for a goal that never came the previous time City played in a Champions League final, when he collected a silver medal as Chelsea players kissed their golds.

Two years on, City have achieved the landmark they have aspired to for so long and have plotted so meticulously.

It is a moment to look back on the milestones that guided them to this summit, remember the likes of Aguero, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. Footballers who elevated a club who at the beginning of this century were yo-yoing between the divisions in English football, occasionally attracting a glamorous manager who would call them a ‘sleeping giant’ and then watch City doze off again.

The transformation over the last 15 years, through the clarity applied through most of the Abu Dhabi United Group’s period of ownership, now has its ultimate dividend, the one conspicuous gap on the honours board now filled.

The best team in Europe, by a distance, has lifted the most competitive tournament in club football, a turn of events not as common as logic says it should be.

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