Mission completed: Man City beats Inter Milan to end wait for first Champions League title

The mission was completed in Istanbul’s Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium on Saturday as the Abu Dhabi-backed club won the Champions League title for the first time and perhaps heralded the start of a new era of dominance in the competition.

“It was written in the stars. It belongs to us," said Pep Guardiola after the 1-0 win against Inter Milan, as tears flowed again from the manager, his players and a sea of blue-shirted fans.

On this occasion, the emotion was pure ecstasy after so many disappointments on this stage.

The victory, courtesy of Rodri's 68th-minute goal, has been 15 years in the making since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan transformed City into one of the richest teams in the world overnight.

This was the final frontier for Guardiola's team, which also completed a rare treble of trophies after winning the Premier League title and FA Cup this season.

The Champions League had always been a step that seemed out of reach even for a team that has spent more than $1.5 billion on the world's best players and hired probably the greatest coach of his generation in Guardiola.

With that psychological barrier broken and the spending power to further improve a team that has already proved too good for the rest, the potential is there to win European club soccer's biggest prize on multiple occasions.

Guardiola joked about being “just 13 Champions Leagues away” from Real Madrid.

“If you sleep a little bit we will catch you,” he said. 

“But I don’t want after one Champions League to disappear, so work harder next season and be in there. There are teams that win the Champions League and after one or two seasons disappear. This is what you have to avoid. 

"Knowing me this is not going to happen. But at the same time, I have to admit it,